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Argentina brushed aside Croatia 3-0 to march into the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals. A penalty from Lionel Messi followed by a double from Julian Alvarez secured a emphatic victory for the Albiceleste, who face either France or Morocco in Sunday's decider.
Croatia dominated possession early on but Argentina slowly crawled their way back into the game. In the 34th minute, the South American giants went ahead after Messi slotted home a cool penalty.
Alvarez then doubled their advantage just five minutes later, rounding off a brilliant individual goal from a break he started himself at the halfway line.
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The Manchester City man returned to haunt the Vatreni again in the second half with a simple finish into the bottom corner, although Messi's assist for that one was simply gorgeous.
Croatia were done and dusted by then and saw their dream of reaching back-to-back World Cup finals end in limp fashion.
Argentina are one game away from a third title, and Messi, from being immortalized into footballing history.
Here are the player ratings for Argentina and Croatia:
Argentina Player Ratings
Emiliano Martinez - 7.5/10
The Argentinian custodian made three saves and bagged a clean sheet.
Nahuel Molina - 7.5/10
He kept Perisic firmly in check and won three of his five ground duels.
Cristian Romero - 7/10
Romero went into the books for a challenge on Petkovic in the 68th minute but was otherwise dependable. He provided five clearance and blocked two shots.
Nicolas Otamendi - 7/10
The former Manchester City defender was calm and composed throughout. His passing accuracy of 95 percent illustrates this point.
Nicolas Tagliafico - 6.5/10
Argentine fans weren't happy to see him in the starting lineup before the game but after the win, might have been convinced. He managed four interceptions and had a passing accuracy of 91 percent.
Rodrigo De Paul - 7/10
De Paul was key in Argentina's counter-attacking moments, although his passing can still improve.
Leandro Paredes - 6.5/10
He fought hard for the ball, making four tackles and winning four ground duels.
Enzo Fernandez - 7/10
He made a nice through-ball for Messi early on and forced Livakovic into a brilliant save with a long-range strike in the second half.
Alexis Mac Allister - 7/10
He fired a volley narrowly wide off the post in the 83rd minute. Overall, he made two key passes and one shot each, off target and on it.
Lionel Messi - 9.5/10
The Argentina skipper had a hand in all three goals tonight in what was truly a spectacular display. One game away from winning the World Cup now!
Julian Alvarez - 9/10
He piled on Messi's opener with two goals of his own, including a wonderful individual goal for his first. Even the first penalty was earned through his efforts. His xG of 1.18 shows how good he was. The next big thing of Argentina?
Substitutes
Lisandro Martinez - 6.5/10
The Manchester United man kept everything clean at the back.
Paulo Dybala - 7/10
He created a great chance for Mac Allister late on but the latter fired it wide.
Exequiel Palacios - 6.5/10
He kept the ball moving around for Argentina.
Angel Correa - N/A
He came on in the 86th minute for Mac Allister but didn't have enough time to make an impact.
Juan Foyth - N/A
He replaced Molina in the closing stages merely to see the game off.
Croatia Player Ratings
Dominik Livakovic - 5/10
The Croatian goalkeeper conceded the penalty, although it was controversial. Nonetheless, unable to do anything for either of Alvarez's goal. He did make two saves from inside the box, one was a brilliant effort against a header from Messi which was going in.
Josip Juranovic - 5/10
He failed to deal with Alvarez on the break for Argentina's second goal.
Dejan Lovren - 5/10
The centre-back played Alvarez onside in the same counter-attacking move and was generally shaky in defense. He had just one clearance but no tackles, interceptions, or blocks.
Josko Gvardiol - 5/10
Messi took the mickey out of him for Argentina's third goal.
Borna Sosa - 4/10
His clearance for Argentina's goal was poor, allowing Alvarez to top it home. That was the only clearance he had in the entire match.
Luka Modric - 7/10
The 37-year-old was once again central to everything Croatia did but couldn't steer his team to a victory. Though he had as many as 93 touches, the veteran was also dispossessed 12 times.
Marcelo Brozovic - 6.5/10
He was uncharacteristically sloppy in possession but looked to help out defensively in the first half. However, he won only two of his eight ground duels.
Mateo Kovacic - 7/10
A bright spark for Croatia during the early exchanges. He had 105 touches in the game and a passing accuracy of 94 percent.
Mario Pasalic - 4/10
The winger was a marginal figure in the opening half and was hooked off at the break. His passing accuracy was a paltry 69 percent and he managed just 20 touches.
Andrej Kramaric - 4/10
Totally powerless for Croatia upfront. No shots, on or off target, and no crosses.
Ivan Perisic - 5.5/10
His flashes of brilliance were there for all to see, but not enough to come up with anything meaningful. He had two shots off target and none of his five crosses were well directed.
Substitutes
Nikola Vlasic (46' for Pasalic) - 5/10
He was brought on at half-time but was barely visible. Managed just 21 touches.
Mislav Orsic (46' for Sosa) - 6.5/10
Orsic brilliantly cut inside from the left in the 77th minute before firing wide.
Bruno Petkovic (50 for Brozovic) - 5/10
The Croatian hero against Brazil, Petkovic couldn't work his magic today.
Marko Livaja (72' for Kramaric) - 4/10
A peripheral figure.
Lovro Majer (81' by Modric) - N/A
Not enough time to make an impact.
