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Two-time World Cup winner Argentina locked horns with Croatia in the first semi-final of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Lusail Stadium of Doha hosted this match between the two World Cup heavyweights. The Argentine team was coming off with a win in the penalty shootout in a controversial quarterfinal against the Netherlands.
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Both teams fielded different lineups in the must-win match. Argentine management decided to go with the line-up of 4-4-2 in comparison to the 4-3-3 of Croatia. Notably, the Croatian side had played the final of the previous edition of the World Cup against France.
With said that, here we’ll have a look at the complete action of the first semi-final between Argentina and Croatia played in the 22nd edition of the World Cup.
Here's how the heroics of Messi and Alvarez worked for Argentina
Croatia dominated the first thirty minutes of the game and kept the maximum of ball possession with themselves. But it was the 34th minute of the match that turned the tables in favor of Argentina, captain Lionel Messi made no mistake in converting a penalty into a goal to open the score line for Argentina.
With the first goal in the semi-final against Croatia, Messi also became the all-time leading goal scorer for Argentina in the FIFA World Cup.
It was only the fifth minute after the 35-year-old legendary center-forward and his young teammate Julian Alvarez came up with a stunner in the 39th minute of the match. Alvarez showed a brilliant solo run to score the outstanding field goal helping Argentina take the lead of 2-0 in the first half of the match.
Argentina ended up the first time on an amazing note with almost an unassailable lead of 2-0 at the end of the first half.
During the second half of the match, Luka Modric’s men were eyeing to level the scores with Argentina. But the Messi-Alvarez duo ended Croatia’s hopes with a brilliant display of football. Young center-forward Alvarez scored his second individual goal and the third goal of the match for Argentina on the outstanding assist from none other than his skipper Messi.
Eventually, Argentina made it to the title clash of the 22nd edition of this prestigious football quadrennial.