Argentina 3-0 Croatia: Messi leads Argentina into the World Cup final
Messi now gets one last chance to win the silverware that has eluded him in his trophy-laden career. Still, Manchester City's 22-year-old striker Julian Alvarez also shone as Argentina ensured they will return here on Sunday to face either France or Morocco.
Messi looked to be struggling with a hamstring problem early on. Still, Argentina's little genius recovered enough to break the deadlock from the penalty spot after 34 minutes following Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic's foul on the marauding Alvarez.
Alvarez doubled Argentina's lead five minutes later when he took Messi's header just inside Croatian territory and embarked on a slaloming run, aided by fortunate bounces off Josip Juranovic and Borna Sosa, before beating Livakovic.
No fortune was involved in a brilliant third after the break as Messi mesmerised Croatia's excellent defender Josko Gvardiol on the byeline before playing in Alvarez for the finish.
Messi will now have the opportunity to make amends for the bitter disappointment of losing the 2014 World Cup final to Germany in Rio's iconic Maracana.
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