FIFA World Cup 2022, Argentina vs Croatia: Argentina's living legend and one of the stalwarts in the game of soccer Lionel Messi is having a magical run in the ongoing tournament. Argentina defeated Luka Modric's Croatia by a margin of 3-0 and they have now entered the finals of the World Cup that is being played in Qatar. The Lusail seems to be in love with Lionel Messi and his heroics. In a controversial spot-kick, Lionel Messi opened Argentina's account and they never seemed to look back in the match.
For Croatia and Luka Modric, it is nothing else but sheer heartbreak as they bow out of the soccer fest courtesy of a dismal and lackluster display of weak defence. Croatia were the finalist of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and they looked like strong contenders for the World Cup, but their dream run has ended as far as this edition is concerned. This potentially was Luka Modric's last World Cup who is 39 years old as of now, but he can certainly be very proud of what he has done and achieved on the international stage. Croatia seemed to be pretty weak once Argentina turned the heat on. The first scoring shot for Argentina was a controversial one, they were allowed to take a spot kick and Messi did not make any mistake. He scored and earned the lead for his side, but was he done after that? not by any means. The Argentinan stalwart had plenty of support from his new-found wingman Julian Alvarez who scored the second goal of the match. At half time Argentina were 2-0 up and had the game almost in their kitty.
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Game Analysis
Shots
- Argentina: 9
- Croatia: 12
Shots on target
- Argentina: 7
- Croatia: 2
Possession
- Argentina: 39%
- Croatia: 61%
Passes
- Argentina: 399
- Croatia: 607
Pass Accuracy
- Argentina: 83%
- Croatia: 87%
Fouls
- Argentina: 15
- Croatia: 8
Offsides
- Argentina: 1
- Croatia: 0
Corners
- Argentina: 2
- Croatia: 4
Yellow cards
- Argentina: 2
- Croatia: 2
Come to the second half, Croatia tried to attack Argentina, but nothing seemed to have worked in their favour. Messi, the classic Lionel Messi turned the clock back as he worked his way through the Croatian defenders and dribbled the ball past them to produce a spectacular assist which was finished by Julian Alvarez. This certainly was the final nail in the coffin for Croatia. Argentina last played a World Cup final in the year 2014 against Germany. They suffered a massive heartbreak at the hands of the Germans, but now they will try and rewrite the history books as they wait for their opponents. Defending champions France take on Morocco on Wednesday and Argentina will have their keen eyes on this game.
