Argentina vs Croatia LIVE: World Cup 2022 result and reaction as Messi and Alvarez star to book place in final
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Argentina play Croatia in the first semi-final of the World Cup in Qatar tonight as captain Lionel Messi looks to emulate his hero, and national icon, Diego Maradona by finally lifting the most prestigious trophy in men’s football.
This Argentina team are out to win their nation’s third world title, with captain Messi only having one major gap on his glittering career CV. The Paris Saint-Germain forward was a World Cup runner-up in 2014, with Croatia – led by captain and star player Luka Modric – suffering the same fate four years ago.
This year, Argentina have endured a rollercoaster World Cup, as an early shock defeat to Saudi Arabia looked to have blown their chance of glory. However, they bounced back to qualify for the last 16, where they edged past Australia before surviving a storming Netherlands comeback to win a dramatic and bad-tempered quarter-final on penalties in perhaps the match of the tournament so far.
Meanwhile, Croatia knocked out tournament favourites Brazil in a shootout in the last round and that came after they had already got past another much-fancied outfit, Belgium, in the group stage and endured a last-16 penalty shootout against Japan. The winners of this tie will face defending champions France or underdogs Morocco in Sunday’s final.
Relive all the action with our live blog below:
World Cup 2022: Argentina vs Croatia
Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 in the semi-final of World Cup 2022 in Qatar
Lionel Messi moves step closer to elusive World Cup crown after virtuoso display as he scores once and Julian Alvarez twice
World Cup final opponents will be France or Morocco, who play in other semi-final on Wednesday
FULL-TIME! Argentina 3-0 Croatia
83’ - CHANCE! Mac Allister volleys millimetres wide (ARG 3-0 CRO)
69’ - GOAL! Alvarez finishes after glorious Messi assist (ARG 3-0 CRO)
57’ - SAVE! Messi slips between tacklers but has shot saved at the near post (ARG 2-0 CRO)
42’ - SAVE! Livakovic brilliantly tips Mac Allister’s header wide (ARG 2-0 CRO)
39’ - GOAL! Alvarez mixes skill and luck for solo go (ARG 2-0 CRO)
34’ - GOAL! Messi hammers home penalty after Livakovic fouls Alvarez (ARG 1-0 CRO)
Full-time: Argentina 3-0 Croatia
20:57 , Michael Jones
90+5 mins: Argentina go marching on. Lionel Messi goes marching on. He lost in the 2014 World Cup final but will have the chance to rectify that result and win the trophy on Sunday.
Croatia’s fantastic World Cup run comes to an end at the semi-final stage. They were outdone tonight by a brighter and fresher team.
There is certainly an aura around Argentina now. It seems that this might finally be Messi’s time.
Argentina 3-0 Croatia
20:51 , Michael Jones
90 mins: Five minutes of added time to play at the Lusail Stadium.
Argentina will be coming back here on Sunday to challenge for the World Cup. Will this be the year that Lionel Messi finally achieve’s his dream of winning this tournament?
Argentina 3-0 Croatia
20:49 , Michael Jones
87 mins: Croatia are still hunting down a goal. Mateo Kovacic feeds the ball up to Lovro Majer who takes a shot with the outside of his left foot.
There’s a big deflection off Cristian Romero which almosts wrongfoots the goalkeeper but Emi Martinez drops low and clings onto the ball.
Argentina 3-0 Croatia
20:46 , Michael Jones
84 mins: Chance! Alexis Mac Allister should have himself a World Cup goal. The ball is played over to the left side of the penalty area before getting chipped back across to the middle.
Mac Allister meets the ball on the volley and blasts his effort wide of the target!
Argentina 3-0 Croatia
20:43 , Michael Jones
81 mins: There goes Luka Modric.
If this game was billed as Modric vs Messi then the Croatian has come off second best tonight. That’s no shameful thing especially when Messi is playing close to his best but Croatia and Modric just haven’t been at their best.
Modric receives a decent clap from the crowd as he’s replaced with Lovro Majer.
Argentina 3-0 Croatia
20:40 , Michael Jones
Lawrence Ostlere at the Lusail Stadium on that moment of brilliance from Lionel Messi:
Wow. That is what everyone here came to see: not a World Cup semi-final, not even a football match, really - they came to see Lionel Messi in full flight.
He has to check his run a couple more times these days, he has to beat his man all over again when the defender’s legs are 15 years younger than his, but perhaps that makes it even more incredible.
What a footballer.
Argentina 3-0 Croatia
20:38 , Michael Jones
78 mins: Ivan Perisic carries the ball up to the left side of the box before sliding a pass inside to Mislav Orsic. He checks to the right and lets fly with a shot but doesn’t catch it right and the ball spoons high and wide.
Argentina 3-0 Croatia
20:36 , Michael Jones
75 mins: There’s been a few more substitutions to tell you about. Marko Livaja is on for Croatia after taking the place of Andrej Kramaric.
For Argentina, Exequiel Palacios, Paulo Dybala and Lisandro Martinez are all introduced with Rodrigo de Paul, Leandro Paredes and Julian Alvarez replaced.
Alvarez in particular is given a loud round of applause as he leaves the pitch.
Argentina 3-0 Croatia
20:33 , Michael Jones
72 mins: Shot! Croatia are in the last chance saloon now. They win a free kick over 35 yards out from goal that Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic are standing over.
Perisic is given the opportunity to shoot and drills a low effort towards the bottom corner but Emi Martinez drops low to easily keep it out.
GOAL! Argentina 3-0 Croatia (Alvarez, 69’)⚽️
20:29 , Michael Jones
69 mins: Magic from Messi!
Argentina’s talisman receives the ball on the right side of the box and comes up against Josko Gvardiol. Messi injects some pace into his run, stops and checks back before dropping a shoulder and storming past the Croatian centre-back.
He takes the ball in from the byline and pulls it back to Julian Alvarez who guides it wonderfully into the back of the net!
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
20:27 , Michael Jones
66 mins: A decent run from Perisic on the left wing sees the ball played inside to Petkovic who turns it on to Kramaric. He’s barely got time to control the ball before Argentina’s defenders close him down and force the forward away from goal.
Croatia just haven’t been able to open up space to shoot from around the edge of the box.
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
20:26 , Michael Jones
Lawrence Ostlere at the Lusail Stadium:
Zlatko Dalic's move to a 4-2-3-1 with Bruno Petkovic now leading the line had helped instigate a good spell of pressure from Croatia, and their fans behind the goal were urging the ball into the net as they got into the box on a couple of occasions in the past few minutes.
But Argentina seem to have ridden that wave now and are taking the sting out of the game.
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
20:23 , Michael Jones
61 mins: Close! Croatia win a free kick over on the left-hand touchline. The ball gets whipped into the box and almost falls perfectly to Dejan Lovran but Emi Martinez manages to get a touch on the ball to take it away from him and Argentina work it clear.
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
20:21 , Michael Jones
58 mins: Chance! Lovely play from Argentina sees the ball come up to Messi who swivels towards goal and slides the ball to Enzo Fernandez on the edge of the box.
Messi makes a free run into the left side of the box, collects the return pass and shoots whilst holding off Dejan Lovren. The Argentina captain nails his shot but Dominik Livakovic covers the near post and forces it wide.
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
20:17 , Michael Jones
55 mins: Messi hasn’t seemed too bothered by his hamstring since the game restarted in the second half although he hasn’t had a great deal to do in these 10 minutes.
Alexis MacAllister stops a Croatian attack and sends Julian Alvarez sprinting away on the counter-attack. The Argentinian forward bombs down the left side of the pitch before squaring a pass into Enzo Fernandez.
He tries to roll the ball onto his right foot but Josko Gvardiol gets back in time to nick the ball away.
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
20:12 , Michael Jones
52 mins: This is a significant change from Zlatko Dalic who hooks off Marcelo Brozovic to introduce Bruno Petkovic. That’s a midfielder off and a forward on. Croatia have to get more possession in Argentina’s final third.
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
20:10 , Michael Jones
50 mins: Chance! Good pressure from Argentina. Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez and Alexis MacAllister press Croatia high up the pitch and keep the ball on the edge of the box.
MacAllister wins it back and is taken out as the ball rolls over to Leandro Paredes. He smokes a first time shot from range which travels low and bounces just before Dominik Livakovic who smothers the ball.
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
20:07 , Michael Jones
48 mins: Now then. Croatia win a free kick just outside the penalty area over to the right. Luka Modric is standing over it and will deliver a cross into the box.
He flicks the ball towards the six-yard area but Emi Martinez is quickly off his line and plucks the ball out of the air.
Second half: Argentina 2-0 Croatia
20:06 , Michael Jones
Croatia have made a couple of changes at the break. Mislav Orsic and Nikola Vlasic are brought on to replace Borna Sosa and Mario Pasalic.
Lionel Messi kicks off the second half.
HT Argentina 2-0 Croatia
20:00 , Michael Jones
Lionel Messi has now scored 11 goals at the World Cup, the most of any Argentina player in the competition’s history. Since the 1966 edition, no player has scored or assisted in more different World Cup matches than Messi (13) – level with Brazil’s Ronaldo.
HT Argentina 2-0 Croatia
19:57 , Lawrence Ostlere
Lawrence Ostlere at the Lusail Stadium:
That would have been a perfect half for Argentina, but there was one slight cloud: Messi repeatedly reached for his hamstring when the ball was out of play, seemingly grimacing.
He finished the half in full flight, however, dribbling at the Croatian defence and drawing a foul as the whistle blew, so let’s hope he is OK to continue.
It is a little early to be looking ahead, but if Argentina progress Messi would have four days to get himself right for a second attempt at the biggest game of his life.
HT Argentina 2-0 Croatia
19:54 , Michael Jones
A Lionel Messi penalty and a fortunate run from Julian Alvarez have put Argentina in firm control of this semi-final. They squandered a two goal lead against the Netherlands last time out so won’t want to repeat that tonight.
It’s going to be very tough for Croatia to gt back into this one.
Half-time: Argentina 2-0 Croatia
19:50 , Michael Jones
45+4 mins: Argentina head into the half-time break with a two-goal cushion and the knowledge that a clean sheet will take them into the World Cup final.
The majority of supporters in the stadium are loving this. Croatia need another massive second half comeback.
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
19:48 , Michael Jones
45 mins: Four minutes of added time to play at the end of the first half. Argentina have a comfortable lead and seem really confident in their play now.
Croatia were a little dazed after that one-two punch but a snapshot from the edge of the box by Luka Modric has woken them up again.
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
19:44 , Lawrence Ostlere
Lawrence Ostlere at the Lusail Stadium:
The odd thing is that Croatia had been doing quite well, mostly containing Argentina's threat and creating some promising counters, but that is a disastrous double blow which right now feels almost impossible to come back from.
They have been punished for going forwards in numbers and exposing their slow defence to a quick striker in Julian Alvarez.
The Argentina fans are bouncing, chanting, drumming, while the Croatia contingent to our right have gone very quiet.
Argentina 2-0 Croatia
19:43 , Michael Jones
42 mins: SAVE! Argentina win their first corner of the game and whip a great cross into the six-yard box where Alexis MacAllister wins the ball in the air and guides a header towards goal.
The ball bounces off the turf but Livakovic sticks out a left hand and pushes it wide of the back post! What a reaction save from the Croatian goalkeeper that is!
GOAL! Argentina 2-0 Croatia (Alvarez, 39’)⚽️
19:39 , Michael Jones
39 mins: Fortune for Julian Alvarez but Argentina double their lead on the counter-attack!
Argentina recover the ball on the edge of the box and send it up to Lionel Messi who turns it forward to Alvarez before being taken out. The referee plays on as Alvarez drives down the pitch, he’s got Nahuel Molina alongside him and the right back makes a diagonal run across the box drawing away Borna Sosa.
There’s a tackle which knocks the ball loose but it bobbles up kindly for Alvarez who chests it down and pokes it past Dominik Livakovic!
Argentina 1-0 Croatia
19:38 , Michael Jones
37 mins: Dominik Livakovic and Mateo Kovacic both got booked during the penalty incident. Livakovic for the challenge on Alvarez and Kovacic for dissent and arguing with the referee.
Croatia won’t panic, they are the kings of coming from behind. Another corner is knocked short to Brozovic but his attempted cross is blocked.
GOAL! Argentina 1-0 Croatia (Messi, 34’)⚽️
19:34 , Michael Jones
34 mins: Oof! Pick that one out. Dominik Livakovic dives the correct way but Lionel Messi blasts the penalty kick into the roof of the net leaving the keeper no chance to save it.
Argentina take the lead!
Penalty to Argentina!
19:33 , Michael Jones
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
32 mins: A simple flick over the top plays Julian Alvarez into the box after Luka Modric loses possession in midfield. Alvarez flicks it around the goalkeeper who then cleans him out.
Argentina immediately shout for a penalty and the referee points to the spot.
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:31 , Michael Jones
30 mins: Mateo Kovacic shimmies over the ball and spins around Leandro Paredes in midfield. Croatia look to break forward as Andrej Kramaric receives the ball but he’s clipped from behind and wins a free kick.
Croatia quickly work the ball through the midfield and out to Ivan Perisic on the left wing. He cuts into the box and looks to chip the goalkeeper but flicks it mere inches over the crossbar!
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:27 , Michael Jones
26 mins: Argentina are stepping it up a gear now. They’re forcing Croatia deep into their own. Alexis MacAllister attempts to weave his way through the defence but has to offload the ball to Enzo Fernandez.
He cuts inside from the left and has a dart from range. The shot curls towards the bottom left corner but Dominik Livakovic leaps across and palms it away from goal.
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:24 , Lawrence Ostlere
Lawrence Ostlere at the Lusail Stadium:
Messi had been on the fringes up to that point but suddenly he came alive, wriggling away from Croatian defenders before misplacing the final pass.
The stadium's noise has just gone up a couple of notches, and the section filled with Argentina's travelling fans is pulsating with energy now.
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:24 , Michael Jones
22 mins: The excitement in the crowd goes up a level whenever Lionel Messi gets the ball anywhere near the Croatia box. He tries to feed a couple of through ball to his attackers but first Lovren and then Gvardiol block the efforts.
Argentina may need some Messi magic to break down this Croatian team.
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:21 , Michael Jones
19 mins: Croatia look as solid as they have done all tournament and they’re offering the occasional run out wide just to keep Argentina honest.
Borna Sosa brings the ball this time but fizzes his delivery into the area straight out of play.
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:17 , Michael Jones
16 mins: Josip Juranovic’s first real foray up the pitch results in the first corner of the game as Tagliafico gets back in time to block the ball behind.
Croatia play the corner short with Modric getting the ball back and passing it up to Juranovic on the overlap. He then swings a deep cross into the far side of the penalty area and Dejan Lovren nods a half-chance wide of the target.
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:15 , Michael Jones
13 mins: Enzo Fernandez receives the ball into the middle of the pitch and slides a pass over to the left where Julian Alvarez has snuck into space.
Alvarez passes the ball inside to Alexis MacAllister who dinks a short ball into the box for Lionel Messi who’d asked for it.
Messi starts his run but runs into the nearest defender and goes down looking for a free kick which the referee waves away.
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:12 , Michael Jones
10 mins: The first 10 minutes have seen both teams try to control possession and slowly probe at the other’s defences. Neither side has looked overly expansive and there hasn’t been an attempt on goal.
Croatia pass the ball fluidly through midfield before Perisic curls a cross into the box from the left that Cristian Pulisic easily deals with.
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:08 , Michael Jones
7 mins: Mario Pasalic lunges into a tackle on Nicolas Tagliafico as the Argentina defender brings the ball into midfield. Pasalic has a word with the referee before the free kick is knocked down the left wing.
Croatia recover the ball and switch the play with a pass over to Josko Gvardiol who slides a pass up to Ivan Perisic.
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:05 , Lawrence Ostlere
Lawrence Ostlere at the Lusail Stadium:
The giant World Cup has been delfated and wheeled away, the huge banner across the centre circle has been folded and removed, and we're away.
Once again, a World Cup stadium is not full, but the noise generated by the Argentina fans to our left is still resonating around the Lusail.
Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:04 , Michael Jones
3 mins: Nahuel Molina gets down the right wing for Argentina and is given the ball. He takes on his opposite number, Borna Sosa, and sprints past the left-back before hooking a cross into the box from the byline.
There’s a deflection off Sosa which takes the ball away from Julian Alvarez and sends it skipping through the box to safety.
Kick off: Argentina 0-0 Croatia
19:01 , Michael Jones
Croatia get the ball rolling for the first semi-final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. They knock the ball around the back line before giving it to Dejan Lovren who brings the ball down the right side.
Argentina vs Croatia
18:56 , Michael Jones
Here come the teams.
Lionel Messi leads out his Argentina team mates and Luka Modric does the same for Croatia. This should be a good match-up with Croatia the underdogs once again.
Can the Europeans reach the final for a second successive tournament or will Messi take a step closer to winning the only trophy he has yet to achieve in his incredible year?
Messi or Modric
18:50 , Michael Jones
The result of this semi-final seems like it will come down to which of the team’s majestic midfielders has the best game. Argentina are spurred on by the heroics of Lionel Messi whilst Croatia’s playmaker is Luka Modric.
Both players are in the backend of their careers with this World Cup likely to be the last one they play in. Who will progress to the final?
Argentina make two changes for World Cup semi-final with Croatia
18:47 , Michael Jones
Argentina have made two changes and switched back to a four-man defence for their World Cup semi-final with Croatia.
Midfielder Leandro Paredes is brought back into the side in place of defender Lisandro Martinez as boss Lionel Scaloni reverts to the 4-4-2 he has deployed for much of the tournament in Qatar.
Elsewhere, Nicolas Tagliafico starts at left-back in place of the suspended Marcos Acuna while Nahuel Molina remains on the opposite side of the defence with fellow right back Gonzalo Montiel also banned.
Captain Lionel Messi starts as he bids to add the one trophy still to elude him to his glittering collection.
Argentina make two changes for World Cup semi-final with Croatia
Like a fine wine
18:40 , Michael Jones
Luka Modric stands alongside Davor Suker as the greatest footballing talents the small nation of Croatia has produced.
Modric has made the most World Cup appearances (17) and most appearances at major tournaments (30) for the national team.
He is set to become just the fourth player in the history of the tournament to start six matches aged 37 or older, after: Nilton Santos for Brazil in 1962, Dino Zoff for Italy in 1982 and Peter Shilton for England in 1990.
What if this semi-final goes to penalties?
18:37 , Michael Jones
Croatia have won all four of their penalty shootouts at the World Cup, knocking out Japan and Brazil in the last 16 and quarter-finals in 2022 respectively.
The only nation to win more penalty shootouts in the competition are Argentina, with five.
Messi has arrived
18:34 , Lawrence Ostlere
Lawrence Ostlere at the Lusail Stadium:
The first roar of the night is for Lionel Messi, whose face fills the big screens in the four corners of the Lusail Stadium as he leads Argentina out to warm out.
Each set of fans has an allocation of supporters behind each goal, but the rest of the seats are almost exclusively filled with fans backing Argentina, and very few pockets of red and white checks in between.
We may be closer to Croatia geographically but this is virtually a home match for the Argentinians.
Argentina have worked out how to hurt Croatia, coach claims
18:32 , Michael Jones
Argentina believe they have worked out how to hurt Croatia in their World Cup semi-final on Tuesday.
Croatia were not the favourites to reach the last four again but they came through two penalty shootouts in a repeat of their 2018 exploits.
And Lionel Scaloni is in no doubt of the threat they pose his side.
“They have troubled many national teams. I won’t mention the key players or their strengths and weaknesses but we’ve analysed where we can hurt them. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t,” he said.
Argentina have worked out how to hurt Croatia, coach claims
Scaloni defends players’ temperaments
18:28 , Michael Jones
Lionel Scaloni defended his players’ behaviour during and after their quarter-final victory over the Netherlands. 17 yellow cards were shown in a tension filled encounter that bubbled over on numerous occasions before Argentina triumphed in the penalty shootout.
"The previous game was played the way we had to play - for both teams. That’s football," Scaloni said. "In some games things can happen like this. There can be arguments but that’s all. That’s why there’s a referee.
"We need to put an end to this idea of thinking Argentina behave like this. We lost to Saudi Arabia and we didn’t say anything.
"We won the Copa America in Brazil and experienced the most sporting behaviour with [Lionel] Messi, [Leandro] Paredes, Neymar, who were all sitting together in the tunnel in the Maracana [Stadium]. I’m really not convinced of this idea of unsporting behaviour."
Argentina vs Croatia
18:24 , Michael Jones
Who will be advancing to the World Cup final?
There a supporters from both sets of fans in attendance tonight but the majority seem to be favouring Argentina and Lionel Messi.
Argentina vs European sides
18:20 , Michael Jones
Argentina have won just one of their last seven World Cup games against European sides (with three draws and three defeats), beating Poland 2-0 in the group stage this year.
However, two of those three draws have resulted in penalty shootout victories.
Back-to-back finals for Croatia?
18:16 , Michael Jones
Croatia were losing finalists in 2018, and could become the fourth European nation to reach consecutive World Cup finals after Italy (1934, 1938), Netherlands (1974, 1978) and Germany (1982, 1986, 1990).
Lionel Messi embraces ‘spirit of Maradona’ to drag beaten Argentina to World Cup semi-final
18:12 , Michael Jones
As Lionel Messi starts to find the right words to go with the right touches, some of them surprisingly aggressive, there’s been a telling phrase used to describe him around the Argentina camp.
They talk of the 35-year-old as a “líder Maradonina”, a Maradona-like leader.
After his first major moment of the World Cup 2022, which was that essential and exceptional goal against Mexico, Messi was seen looking to the sky and mouthing “gracias Diego”. His teammates now speak of the “spirit of Diego”, and the 35-year-old is also being described as a “man possessed”.
Lionel Messi embraces ‘spirit of Maradona’ to drag Argentina to World Cup semi-final
Can Argentina reach the final?
18:08 , Michael Jones
Argentina are looking to reach the World Cup final for the sixth time, a figure bettered only by Germany with eight.
They’ve never been eliminated at the semi-final stage before, most recently beating the Netherlands in 2014.
‘No limits’ for Croatia as Zlatko Dalic targets another ‘extraordinary’ World Cup victory
18:04 , Michael Jones
Zlatko Dalic had greatness on his mind and it transpired that he was not really talking about Lionel Messi. He was contemplating the prospect of the greatest of all time, but he was not referencing Argentina’s No 10. Not directly, anyway, because Messi could prevent Dalic from rewriting Croatian history again.
Indeed, perhaps it is the presence of Argentina in Tuesday’s semi-final that makes Dalic believe victory would render it the finest day in Croatia’s footballing history. He has already won a match in the last four of this competition, overcoming England in 2018 and it was entirely in character for his team that they did it the hard way, after coming from behind. But the quarter-final penalty shootout triumph over Brazil also felt particularly prestigious, in part because it was Brazil.
“For me, the semi-final against England was the greatest [Croatia] match of all time, the match against Brazil comes in second and tomorrow’s will be third,” Dalic said. “It is one of the most important and most significant. After only four years to repeat such success on the world stage with a new team is quite fantastic. If we manage to win tomorrow that would make it the greatest historical game of all time for Croatia.”
‘No limits’ for Croatia as Zlatko Dalic targets another ‘extraordinary’ win
Argentina vs Croatia
18:00 , Michael Jones
This is the third World Cup meeting between Argentina and Croatia but just the first in the knockout stages.
Argentina won 1-0 in 1998, before Croatia’s 3-0 win in the 2018 tournament in Russia.
Argentina ready to go the distance against World Cup’s comeback kings
17:56 , Michael Jones
If football is an ever-changing sport, Lionel Scaloni only needs to look at his forward line to see proof of that: Lionel Messi, the most influential, most prolific false nine of the modern era, helped bring a position from the past back into favour.
Yet if football is an ever-longer game, it presents problems for Messi: his ambition of winning the World Cup could suffer a fatal setback at a point when matches tended to have finished, at a point when Argentina feel at their weakest and when Croatia could be at their strongest.
Argentina’s progress thus far has been a nervous, emotional, fraught affair. Having seemingly won games, an inability to see them out could have cost them dearly. They took two-goal leads in both the last-16 then the quarter-final. They required a 97th-minute save from Emi Martinez to stop the substitute Garang Kuol earning Australia extra time. They were pegged back by Wout Weghorst’s 101st-minute equaliser for the Netherlands, eventually prevailing on penalties thanks to Martinez.
The timings of the chances might have felt outlandish until a few weeks ago. Yet this World Cup has been notable for previously unprecedented amounts of stoppage time; if it is scarcely ideal for any side who were ahead, it can be particularly problematic for a team as incapable of maintaining control as Argentina.
Argentina ready to go the distance against World Cup’s comeback kings
Win over Argentina would be ‘greatest victory’ for Croatia
17:52 , Michael Jones
Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic says advancing past Argentina to reach a second successive World Cup final would be his nation’s greatest footballing achievement.
If they win tonight Croatia would become only the second side after Germany in 2014 to eliminate both Brazil and Argentina in the knockout stages of the same World Cup.
"The semi-final match against England in the last World Cup was the greatest match of all time, the game against Brazil comes in second," Dalic said in a press conference yesterday.
"If we win tomorrow that would make it the greatest historical game for Croatia of all time.
"We are among the four best teams in the world - that is an extraordinary success for Croatia. It is a great thing for two World Cups in a row to be in the four best national teams in football.
"We want more. We are playing the great Argentina, a terrific team led by Lionel Messi. They are highly motivated and under more pressure than Croatia at this moment in time."
Messi set to break records
17:48 , Michael Jones
Lionel Messi will equal Germany great Lothar Matthaus’ 25-match tournament appearance record against the 2018 World Cup finalists at Lusail Stadium when he starts for Argentina tonight.
The 35-year-old looks to lead Argentina to a first World Cup triumph since 1986, in his fifth and likely last World Cup.
As well as being Argentina’s joint-highest goalscorer alongside Gabriel Batistuta in the competition with 10, Messi is one assist away from equalling Diego Maradona’s overall record of eight at World Cup finals.
Argentina vs Croatia team changes
17:45 , Michael Jones
There are two changes to the Argentina starting line-up from their quarter-final victory over the Netherlands. Nicolas Tagliafico and Leondro Paredes in for Marcos Acuna and Lisandro Martinez.
Boss Lionel Scaloni has opted for a formation change from 3 at the back to 4 with and extra body (Paredes) in midfield.
Croatia are unchanged once again.
Argentina vs Croatia line-ups
17:40 , Michael Jones
Argentina XI: E Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; E Fernandez, De Paul, Paredes, Mac Allister; Messi, Alvarez
Croatia XI: Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa; Brozovic, Modric, Kovacic; Pasalic, Kramaric, Perisic
Argentina have worked out how to hurt Croatia, coach claims
17:39 , Michael Jones
Argentina believe they have worked out how to hurt Croatia in their World Cup semi-final on Tuesday.
Croatia were not the favourites to reach the last four again but they came through two penalty shootouts in a repeat of their 2018 exploits.
And Lionel Scaloni is in no doubt of the threat they pose his side.
“They have troubled many national teams. I won’t mention the key players or their strengths and weaknesses but we’ve analysed where we can hurt them. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t,” he said.
Argentina have worked out how to hurt Croatia, coach claims
Messi to give Argentina ‘special advantage'
17:35 , Michael Jones
Agrentina defender Nicolas Tagliafico says that Lionel Messi’s presence will give the team a "special advantage" against Croatia in their World Cup semi-final this evening.
Argentina’s progress to tonight’s match has largely been inspired by Messi with the forward scoring four and assisting two of their nine goals.
"He has always been like this," said Lyon left-back Tagliafico. "For us he is our captain and our leader. He is the one pushing us and motivating us.
"He is the one who gives us that special advantage when we are on the pitch. We know we have Messi and it is a great source of motivation and hope because we all know that we can contribute and give our best. We are really happy to have Messi as our captain.
"With everyone’s support we are all working together to achieve our dreams, and it is the most beautiful thing to do it with Messi by our side."
The famous Croatia shirt is transforming good players into World Cup greats
17:31 , Michael Jones
In 1950, as they scarcely need reminding, Uruguay won the World Cup. The crowd at the Maracana when they beat Brazil in what was, in effect, the final is thought to have been around 200,000. To put it another way, almost 10 percent of Uruguay’s population at the time.
It has proved a turning point in the history of the global game, and not merely because every subsequent World Cup has had an actual final. Uruguay have reached subsequent semi-finals in 1970 and 2010, the Netherlands three finals but no smaller country has won the World Cup since. Until now? Probably not, but Croatia, with a population of less than 4 million, are semi-finalists for the second successive tournament and the third time since 1998 and they have been underestimated every time.
Go back a generation or two and the Yugoslavia national team used to be referred to as “the Brazilians of Europe” but Croatia have eliminated the actual Brazilians, and without being able to call upon Serbian talent such as Dusan Tadic, Dusan Vlahovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Filip Kostic, Bosnia’s record scorer Edin Dzeko, Slovenia’s brilliant goalkeeper Jan Oblak or his Atletico Madrid team-mate, Montenegro defender Stefan Savic.
As a country, in its current political entity, Croatia is barely three decades old. As a team, they are the great overachievers of international football. Zlatko Dalic – in a select group of four managers with Luiz Felipe Scolari, Joachim Low and Didier Deschamps to reach successive World Cup semi-finals in the 21st century – has channelled his players’ love of Croatia; if history can be a burden for others, Brazil included, it seems to spur Croatia on.
“I said never underestimate us: pride, faith and patriotism,” said Dalic, in what sounded more a political rallying cry than a tactical blueprint. “We are great fighters. Only Croats can do that. This is a victory of the new Croatia.”
Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic struck a similar note. “We are fighters and we played our hearts out,” he said.
The famous Croatia shirt is transforming good players into World Cup greats
The atmosphere is building in Qatar
17:27 , Lawrence Ostlere
Lawrence Ostlere at the Lusail Stadium:
The atmosphere is building in Lusail, where Argentina take on Croatia at 10pm local time (7pm GMT) for a place in the World Cup final.
Out on Lusail Boulevard, just around the corner from the stadium, music is blaring and fans are gathering in large numbers to get some food before kick off. Almost all of them are wearing Argentina’s sky blue and white colours, in a diverse combination of those who have travelled from South America to be here and people local to the region who support Lionel Messi’s team in huge numbers.
Lusail itself is an odd place on the northern tip of Doha, with very little here beyond the boulevard itself, a long street of shiny shops and restaurants which runs down from the stadium to the coast - highlights include McDonald's, Nando's and Sainsbury's.
You have probably seen images of this stadium by now, an imposing, brightly lit 80,000-seater: one of these teams will be back here for Sunday's final.
Argentina vs Croatia prediction
17:23 , Michael Jones
Although Croatia will prove to be difficult opponents Argentina have the cutting edge and mental resilience to succeed where Brazil failed in the last round.
Argentina 2-1 Croatia.
Where to watch Argentina vs Croatia
17:18 , Michael Jones
The first semi-final of the 2022 World Cup sees Argentina face Croatia with a 7pm kick-off on Tuesday 13 December. The winners face either France or Morocco in the final.
This game will be broadcast live on ITV 1 and STV, while it can also be streamed on ITV X and the STV Player.
Argentina vs Croatia early team news and predicted line-ups
17:12 , Michael Jones
Argentina will have at least one change to their starting XI, as Marcos Acuna is suspended. Nicolas Tagliafico will therefore come in at left-back. On the other side of defence Gonzalo Montiel is also suspended, though he’s behind Nahuel Molina now in any case. Lionel Scaloni went for a three-man back line against Netherlands but could revert to 4-3-3 here, which means either Angel Di Maria or Lautaro Martinez might be considered for a recall.
Croatia will keep it as settled as possible, with only Josip Stanic a doubt, though he hasn’t been a starter anyway. The big decision once more for Zlatko Dalic will be who to start as the third attacker, along with Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric. Bruno Petkovic through the middle or Mario Pasalic on the right are the most likely options.
Predicted line-ups
Argentina XI: E Martinez, Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico, E Fernandez, De Paul, Mac Allister, Di Maria, Messi, Alvarez
Croatia XI: Livakovic, Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa, Brozovic, Modric, Kovacic, Pasalic, Kramaric, Perisic
Argentina vs Croatia
17:09 , Michael Jones
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the World Cup semi-final between Argentina and Croatia. Kick off for this one is at 7pm and the result will determine the first finalist of the 2022 edition of football’s greatest tournament.
Argentina reached the last four after a heated contest against the Netherlands. Nahuel Molina and Lionel Messi both scored to send the South America side two goals but but a superb cameo from Wout Weghorst pulled the game level at 2-2 in stoppage time of the second half. The sides played out a goalless extra-time before Argentina triumphed in the penalty shootout.
Croatia also needed a penalty shootout to get them into the semi-finals after they rescued their last match against Brazil. A steadfast Croatian defence held out until extra-time before a brilliant and blistering run from Neymar saw he dribble into the box and lift a shot over the goalkeeper to send Brazil ahead. Bruno Petkovic equalised with two minutes to go in the match and Croatia netted four penalties to secure their passage to the next round.
But who will reach the final and who will go home?
