The magic of Lionel Messi leads Argentina to the World Cup final with a victory over Croatia.

 Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez led Argentina to a place in the World Cup final with a dominating 3-0 semi-final victory over Croatia at the Lusail Stadium.

Croatia, aiming to reach back-to-back finals after their 2018 exploits, was the better team during the cautious opening half-hour. Still, Álvarez was brought down by goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic as the Manchester City striker lifted the ball past him.

Livakovic was his country's hero in penalty shootout victories over Japan and Brazil. Still, he didn't stand a chance when Messi blasted his penalty into the top right corner to join Kylian Mbappe at the top of the race for La Bota's leading scorer. Of gold.

Álvarez then tenaciously pushed through a scattered Croatian backline on the counter-attack to double the lead. The two goalscorers combined delightfully in the 69th minute: Messi tormented Josko Gvardiol with a twisting dribble before delivering Álvarez his fourth of the tournament.

Final result Argentina vs Croatia

 1H 2H Finals

Argentina 2 1 3

Croatia 0 0 0

Goals:

ARG - Lionel Messi (34 minutes, feather)

ARG — Julián Álvarez (39 min)

ARG — Julián Álvarez (69 min)

Messi has five and is now Argentina's all-time World Cup top scorer, surpassing Gabriel Batistuta. He will have one last chance to match his great teammate Diego Maradona and lift the famous gold trophy.

There was another all-time excellent charting another route to glory on Tuesday, and Luka Modric orchestrated a composite opener from Croatia, though What ultimately exposed his lack of cutting edge compared to Argentina's lethal two forwards.

Dejan Lovren pinned Álvarez to his side absentmindedly, and Livakovic removed him while driving toward the goal. Penalties have not always been Messi's forte, but he found a precision strike to reach the moment and score his 11th World Cup goal.

If the first goal resulted from hours of repetition in luxurious training camps, the second was born on the fields of Calchín, Córdoba. Álvarez took possession on the halfway line after Marcelo Brozovic's cross from a corner kick was blocked. Nahuel Molina's sweeping run on outside confused Croatia and Álvarez struggled to go it alone, overcoming challenges from Josip Juranovic and Borna Sosa to finish.

Messi almost scored his second, exchanging passes with Enzo Fernández to draw a fine save from Livakovic at his near post, but it took one more piece of magic to give Álvarez a second goal that was much more direct than the first.

Argentina (4-4-2, from right to left): 23. E. Martínez (GK) — 26. Molina, 13. Romero, 19. Otamendi, 3. Tagliafico — 7. De Paul, 24. E. Fernández, 5 Paredes, 20. Mac Allister — 9. Álvarez, 10. Messi

Croatia lineup (4-3-3, from right to left): 1. Livakovic (GK) — 22. Jovanovic, 6. Lovren, 20. Guardiola, 19. Sosa — 10. Modric, 11. Brozovic, 8. Kovacic — 13. Pasalic, 9. Kramaric, 4. Perisic

Argentina vs Croatia, as it happened,

Total time: Argentina has been a bit of a basket case in World Cup knockout matches during the Messi era, but that's their most commanding and clinical performance, more than anything, en route to 2014 final. Again there are emotional scenes of full-time celebration. Next up will be France or Morocco, back at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday for a date with destiny.

Minute 90: There will be five minutes of discount. The Argentine bench is ready for the party.

86th minute: Juan Foyth and Ángel Correa replace Nahuel Molina and Alexis Mac Allister. It's time to rest up for the biggest game of your lives, guys.

Minute 85: Ooohh, near Croatia. Ivan Perisic looks in a corner at the near post. Dejan Lovren is having a bit of a fight with Nicolás Otamendi and cannot get the decisive touch.

83rd minute: Almost four o'clock, and it would have been a deserved goal, thanks to the hard work of Alexis Mac Allister. Messi takes a quick free kick, and Paulo Dybala flicks a pass to the Brighton midfielder, who volleys wide.

Minute 81: Luka Modric opens the way. One of the great midfielders of the World Cup and best players of the 21st century leaves the stage. One more piece of magic was beyond him tonight, but he was against the best. Lovro Majer enters the scene.

80th minute: Luka Modric will be the loser of the two all-time greats on the field tonight. He launches a shot that Alexis Mac Allister blocks. The rebound hits the big man right in the mouth. When it's not your night...

73rd minute: Everyone is bringing out their party pieces now because Nicolás Otamendi has been booked for a silly tackle. Let everything hang out. Rodrigo De Paul and Julian Alvarez go out to rest for the final. Exequiel Palacios is back in shape together with Paulo Dybala. The implementation of the latter at this point seems a bit lax on Lionel Scaloni's part.

Minute 69: GOOOOOAAAAALLLL!!!!! Julian Alvarez!!!!!

Josko Gvardiol has been so good in this World Cup that people are putting large amounts of money on his head. Messi made him look like a rank rookie with an incredible pirouetting dribble before placing the ball home for Álvarez. Just magical. Messi and his merry men are on their way to the final.

Minute 66: Dejan Lovren, who has not played his best game, gives up the ball, and Julián Álvarez emerges again. The Argentine striker throws a ball at the far post to Nahuel Molina, who crosses to Messi but Croatia clears.

Minute 62: First change for Argentina with the entry of Lisandro Martínez for Leandro Paredes. They committed the cardinal sin of a substitution just before defending a set piece there and ensured an unseemly fight. Dejan Lovren probably should have scored.

58th minute: It could have been everything because Messi seamlessly combines with Enzo Fernández and Dominik Livakovic makes a great save at his center post. It turns out the hamstring looks good, huh?

Minute 56: Argentina returns to the front foot with that man Julián Álvarez. His cut finds Enzo Fernández, but Josko Gvardiol does enough to avoid danger.

55th minute: It's been a quiet start for Messi's second half, who has been straining his left hamstring a bit. We will be attentive to that.

Minute 50: Wow, meaningful change for Croatia, Dalic's third. Dinamo Zagreb striker Bruno Petkovic replaces Marcelo Brozovic, breaking the legendary midfield three. If you're thinking big man Petkovic could drop deep and link play in midfield, he isn't that guy.

Minute 49: Alexis Mac Allister gets upset and kicked for his problems. The ball escapes Leandro Paredes, whose well-hit shot goes straight to Dominik Livakovic.

Minute 46: We resume the march, with a double change for Croatia, with Nikola Vlasic and Mislav Orsic for Borna Sosa and Mario Pasalic. That means a change in form to three defenders for Zlatko Dalic's men.

Half time: Croatia escapes without further damage. They looked like the better team before the first goal, but they caught themselves in a blue-and-white whirlwind after Messi's penalty. Julián Álvarez's second was a monument to tenacity and perseverance, which is probably a metaphor for his more famous teammate's Argentine career. It's silly to write off this team from Croatia, and Argentina have been wrong, with a 2-0 lead during the knockout rounds. However, it feels like a long way back.

Minute 45+2: We are in four minutes of additional time at a time that Argentina should not want to end.

Minute 45: Croatia responds. Nicolas Otamendi gets shot in the face by Luka Modric because, of course, he does! Then a deflected cross from the right almost caught Emi Martinez on her near post. Mario Pasalic smashed the loose ball into the side netting, but it was probably already offside.

Minute 43: Croatia needs the rest. They are rocking here, as is the stadium itself. Rodrigo De Paul has a shot deflected from behind, and handball cries parried. From the set piece, Alexis Mac Allister receives a pass near the post, and Dominik Livakovic has to produce a brilliant save. He hits Messi's next corner kick, cleared under his crossbar.

Minute 39:  ..) Julián Álvarez !!!!!!!!

Alvarez's sheer persistence is rewarded. Croatia's usually calm backline is all over the place. Álvarez drives into the box, and Nahuel Molina's brilliant forward run from the wing adds to the chaos as the Manchester City striker overcomes a couple of challenges and finishes off.

Minute 34: GOOOOOoften tudoolsooool!!!! Lionel Messi!!!!!!!!

Messi isn't as immaculate from the penalty spot as he is in almost every other attacking facet of the game, but that's emphatic. Dominik Livakovic guesses correctly to his left, but Messi has nailed him into the top corner.

Minute 32: PENALTY TO ARGENTINA!!!! Julián Álvarez breaks through and is blocked by Dominik Livakovic after he lifts the ball past the keeper. Yellow card for Livakovic, who now has to face Messi. He's been pretty good on penalties in this tournament...

31st minute: Ooh, that's a beautiful idea from Ivan Perisic, who cuts down the left, sees Emi Martínez off her line, and aims a delicate chip. It's a bit too high.

28th minute: Luka Modric makes fun of his advanced age by running back to head a cross away from Julián Álvarez after Argentina's half-time.

27th minute: Croatia put pressure on Messi effectively, and Mateo Kovacic slipped away again at half-time. It feeds Andrej Kramaric, and Argentina will have to defend a free kick... which they do.

Minute 25: Alexis Mac Allister finishes off Enzo Fernández, who tries his look from 25 meters. Dominik Livakovic goes through his goal to save.

Minute 22: Messi has his first opportunity to measure Croatia. He looks for a signature one-two with Julián Álvarez before his through ball attempt to Nico Tagliafico is cut off. Mateo Kovacic lunges forward to try and launch a break for Croatia. This is starting to heat up.

Minute 18: Borna Sosa looks for a center from far away. It goes over Martinez's crossbar and goes about 30 rows back. Safe to say she cooked it up a bit!

16th minute: Croatia takes a short corner after another skillful move. The surrender is too deep for Dejan Lovren, and the danger passes.

Minute 14: Messi goes to the ground just on the edge of the area after an excellent job by Julián Álvarez. The referee Daniele Orsato is not interested.

12th minute: Good times for Croatia, whose usual suspects calmly move the ball through midfield. There is yet to be a final product, but this could be backbreaking work for Argentina

10th minute: Ivan Perisic takes a long shot into the box, which is an interesting tactic for a small team operating without an orthodox striker. Mario Pasalic signs up, but Cristian Romero is the only winner in that discussion.

Minute 6: Croatia plays through the press with worrying ease from Argentina's point of view, leading Cristian Romero to hit Mario Pasalic. The referee plays with advantage until Rodrigo De Paul wins a free kick for Argentina. Romero is fortunate not to be removed for a yellow card.

Minute 4: Nico Tagliafico arrives to stretch the legs of the left back for Argentina. Rodrigo De Paul spins an attractive ball over the Croatian backline, but Livakovic gets there first.

1st minute: We're off, with Croatia stroking some possession in their changed navy kit, minus the famous red and white jerseys tonight.

5 min from kick-off: The teams come out, and it's time for hymns—hairs on the neck things of the Argentine masses.

Ten minutes to go: A giant will be furious when he finds out that someone has stolen his clothes from the clothesline.