Argentina demolish Croatia 3:0


Argentina make their way to the finals of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. In the first of the semi final of the tournament, Tuesday, December 13, 2022, the South American side beat Croatia 3:0.

They await France or Morocco, that is, winner of the next semi final match between the two sides, tomorrow, December 14, 2022

Lionel Messi opened up goal for Argentina in the 10th minute of play when he converted a penalty. And right from that moment, Argentina made Croatia very uncomfortable throughout the play.

Interestingly, Messi scored his first of 95 goals for the Argentina men’s national team (before the night’s match) in a non-competitive (friendly) match against Croatia in 2006, when Luka Modric (Croatia) made his debut for the Croatian men’s team.

The two losing countries in the semifinals round will face off in the third-place match on Saturday. The finals match is scheduled for next Sunday at 10 a.m.

Just a bit of history, Argentina has competed in 18 World Cups, including the 2022 edition in Qatar. The last time the team failed to qualify for a World Cup was in 1970, and the last time the Argentinians failed to advance from the group stage was in 2002. Argentina is a three-time World Cup runner-up (1930, 1990, 2014)

NBC Sports reports that Argentina has won the World Cup twice, ‘but it’s been nearly forty years since it happened last: the team won the 1978 edition on home soil, defeating Netherlands 3-1 in the final, thanks in part extra time goals from Mario Kempes and Daniel Bertoni. 

‘Argentina last won the tournament in 1986, led by Diego Maradona, culminating in a 3-2 win over West Germany in the final at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca. 

‘Argentina has never won the World Cup during Messi’s era, and the 35-year-old has said this will be his last appearance in soccer’s biggest tournament. If he wants to add that final missing piece to one of the most outstanding resumes in the history of the sport, Argentina will need to get past Croatia first.’

 And indeed, they did

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