Argentina's PSG superstar Lionel Messi was in sparkling form as the Albiceleste won through to the World Cup final with a 3-0 win over Croatia, the diminutive genius bagging a fifth goal and third assist of the tournament with his best performance so far.
Paris Saint-Germain superstar Lionel Messi went one step closer to his long-held dream of taking Argentina to a World Cup title after a scintillating performance - which featured a mesmerising run down the right flank and into the area, capped by a crisp cut-back for Julian Alvarez to finish - clinched a 3-0 win over 2018 finalists Croatia.
The 35-year-old, for whom this is likely his last World Cup, was over the moon after scoring his fifth goal of the tournament (level with club-mate Kylian Mbappé of France, whose semi-final against Morocco comes tomorrow), from the spot, and then setting up Alvarez for a second after the young forward had bounced the ball off several Croatian defenders on a charging run that saw him poke the ball past Dominik Livakovic.
"I'm happy on the pitch," Messi said with a big smile on his face after the match. "I'm having fun, I'm playing a lot and I'm enjoying it. I'm tired but I'm feeling better and better. This match was again a great expending of energy, but victory erases a lot of things."
Showdown!
Now Argentina are set to do battle with the winner of the other semi-final - between France and Morocco - in the final on Sunday. A far cry from their defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opening match of the tournament.
"The first game shook us up," admitted the PSG striker. "We came into the tournament on a 36-game unbeaten run. But the group showed its strength by reacting. After that, we played our five matches like finals. We won them. Now we have to win the sixth. It's the most important one!"
"We were once again strong enough to play another great match. Thank you very much to everyone who trusted in this squad!!!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 Let's go Argentina!!!!!! #AllTogether"
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