Messi, Argentina lead Croatia at halftime
Published
Goals from Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez have given Argentina a 2-0 lead over Croatia at the half of their FIFA World Cup semi-final in Qatar.
Messi's marker was an 11th at a World Cup, setting a new record for goals in an Argentina shirt.
Chasing a first World Cup title to cap off an illustrious career, the iconic Messi made history just by taking the pitch on Tuesday.
By making his 25th appearance in a World Cup match, Messi matched Germany icon Lothar Matthaus's record for most ever at a World Cup. He can take the record for himself with an appearance in either Sunday's Final or Saturday's third-place match.
Messi thought he should have had a free kick in the 14th. Darting towards the Croatia area, Messi went down just outside the box and looked to the ref in the belief that he was down thanks to a Croatia defender. The referee offered nothing and replays showed that there was no contact there.
In the 25th, the Albiceleste had the first real scoring chance of the match. Lyon's Nicolas Tagliafico galloped down the left and swung a cross towards goal, but there was nobody there to meet it. Croatia's clearance went as far as Julian Alavarez, whose shot from distance was spilled by Dominik Livakovic, but the Croatia 'keeper quickly recovered to gather the rebound before any trouble ensued.
Ivan Perisic had Croatia's first chance in the 30th, coming down the left side. The Tottenham Hotspur winger attempted an audacious chip over Emi Martinez, but the ball cleared the crossbar.
Croatia would rue the miss shortly thereafter. Played in behind the Croatia backline, Alvarez came in alone on Livakovic. The Manchester City man attempted to chip over the 'keeper and while his effort was cleared off the line, the referee point to the spot adjudging that Livakovic's clattering of Alvarez to the ground was worthy of a penalty. Both Livakovic and Mateo Kovacic were booked on the play.
Messi calmly hammered home the spot kick in the 34th to give Argentina the lead. Croatia has yet to open the scoring in any of their six matches.
And the lead would quickly be doubled through a sensational solo run by Alvarez in the 39th. Alvarez just plowed forward down the field, through Sosa and in on Livakovic to give Argentina a 2-0 lead for the second straight match.
Argentina could have put the match to bed in the 43rd if not for some magic from Livakovic. Off of a corner, an Alexis Mac Allister header appeared primed for the far post, but a fantastic diving stop from the Dinamo Zagreb No. 1 prevented that.
Argentina is 45 minutes away from its first World Cup Final since 2014.