The Argentine soccer team beat Croatia 2-0 after the first half in the semifinals of the final tournament of the World Cup.
The match is broadcast live by the Latvian TV channel 7.
Goals for Argentina were scored by Lionel Messi, who with 11 accurate shots is the national team’s all-time top scorer in World Cup finals, as well as Julián Alvarez.
On Tuesday, Messi took to the field in his 25th match in the World Cup finals, tying record holder Lothar Mateus.
Argentina national team manager Lionel Scaloni made two changes to the starting lineup this game: Nicolas Tagliafico started the match in place of suspended left-back Marcos Acuña, and defender Lisandro Martinez was replaced by midfielder Leandro Paredes. Zlatko Daličs made no changes to the starting eleven.
There were no significant changes in the game until the 32nd minute, when the Croatians did not protect Alvarez, who ran into Dominik Livakovic alone, and the Croatian goalkeeper had no choice but to break the rules. The goal of the Croatian national team was awarded an 11-meter penalty, which Messi scored with an irresistible shot under the crossbar – 1:0 in the 34th minute.
Five minutes later, after a quick transition into the attack, Alvarez masterfully outplayed several opponents and already scored the 2-0 in favor of the Argentine national team.
In the duel between France and Morocco on Wednesday, the opponent of the winner of this match in the final will be determined.
The 32 teams are divided into eight groups of four national teams each. The two best teams in each group have reached the round of 16 and continue the fight for the most prestigious football trophy.
Qatar is the first Arab country to host the FIFA World Cup. So far, one championship has been held in Asia and was jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan in 2002.
This is also the first tournament to be held in late autumn instead of the usual summer months due to the extreme heat in Qatar.
This is the last tournament involving 32 teams, as from the next World Cup in 2026, 48 national teams will start the competition.
In the final stage of the 2018 World Cup, which took place in Russia, France became champions, beating Croatia 4:2 in the decisive match.
Argentina national football team: Damian Martinez; Navel Molina, Christian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico; Rodrigo de Paul, Leandro Paredes, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis McAllister; Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez.
Croatia national football team: Dominiks Livakovičs; Josip Juranovic, Dejan Lovren, Josko Guardiol, Borna Sosa; Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic; Mario Pašalić, Andrejs Kramarić, Ivan Perišić.
