Qatar World Cup 2022 Day 23: Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 in semi-final clash, reach sixth World Cup final

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Argentina beat Croatia 3-0, reach historic sixth World Cup final 

Messi's men have beaten Croatia in a comfortable 3-0 win with goals from Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez, and will now face either France or Morocco in Sunday's final.

GOAL! Argentina 3-0 Croatia

Alvarez scored his second goal of the night against Croatia in the 69th minute, in a stunning goal assisted by none other than Lionel Messi.

Argentina 2-0 Croatia

Julian Alvarez nets Argentina's second goal in the 39th minute, shortly after Messi's penalty against Croatia, giving La Albiceleste a comfortable lead before half-time.

Argentina take the lead against Croatia with Messi penalty

Argentina are now in the lead in Tuesday's semi-final match against Croatia, thanks to a Messi penalty scored in the 34th minute, which was given following a foul committed against Julien Alvarez by Dominik Livakovic and Mateo Kovacic- who are now both booked for the incident.

Argentina star Messi equals record for most World Cup appearances in semi-final battle against Croatia

Argentina football legend Lionel Messi is set to equal German Lothar Matthaus' record for the most World Cup appearances with his 25th start in Tuesday's semi-final against Croatia.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward, who is considered one of the best football players of all time, will surpass Matthaus' record, should the Argentina side beat Croatia during tonight's highly-anticipated semi-final at Lusail Stadium.

La Albiceleste will be looking to reach their sixth World Cup final, while Luka Modric's men will be aiming to reach in their second consecutive final.

Performers are already warming up the crowd outside the magnificent Lusail stadium, where Argentina face Croatia. 

We can expect strong travelling Argentine support in the ground, who feel that after many nearly moments, this will be Messi's time to lift the trophy. 

Football is managing to transcend some bitter regional divides that have been a part of North African relations for years. 

His country is in diplomatic crisis with Morocco, but that's not stopping Tunisian Wissam Sultani supporting the first ever Arab or African team to reach a football World Cup semi-final.

"There's no politics on the pitch. Supporting an Arab country, whichever one, is a duty when it gets to this stage of a tournament," said Sultani, a 41-year-old greengrocer in Tunis, capital of the North African nation.

"Football brings people together, but politics divides them."

Morocco's "Lions of the Atlas", who beat Portugal on Saturday to reach the final four, will face former colonial power France on Wednesday.

They will have the backing of many fans across Africa and the Arab world.

At every game so far, Moroccan fans have picked their team up and carried them through with singing, drumming, and cheering from the stands - just pure decibels in every stadium. 

France have seen it. They know it's coming. Will they be able to cope with it tomorrow? 

Here's just a flavour of what could happen if Morocco continues to bring down the giants of European football tomorrow: 

Cities across the world became jubilant street parties when Morocco defeated Portugal in the #FIFAWorldCup quarter-finals last weekend, making the Atlas Lions the first Arab, African, and Muslim-majority team to advance to the semi-final stage 👇

🎥: @Reemkhabbazy #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/sYRF1oZ99y

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) December 13, 2022

Here's some key facts ahead of today's game at Lusail stadium in Doha at 10pm local time.

Croatia are in their second consecutive World Cup semi-final after losing to France in the 2018 World Cup final. They also have a perfect record in penalty shootouts, having come out on top in all four they have contested so far in their history. 

Argentina captain Lionel Messi is eyeing his second World Cup final, after his team lost to Germany in 2014. The World Cup trophy is the only major title missing from his collection, which includes every big club and national team title. 

Argentina started their tournament with a defeat to Saudi Arabia but have since conceded just three goals in four matches to make it to the last four for the sixth time. 

There's really no clear favourite in today's game.