Lionel Messi Humiliates 20-Year-Old Defender, Provides A Magical Assist In 3-0 Win [Watch]

Lionel Messi was involved in two of Argentina's three goals in their semi-final victory over Croatia at the Qatar World Cup on Tuesday.

Messi, who is playing in his last World Cup, opened the scoring for Argentina against Croatia in the 34th minute by netting one from the spot. Argentina received the penalty following Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic's foul on Julian Alvarez.

Five minutes later, Manchester City's Alvarez doubled Argentina's lead when he collected Messi's header just inside Croatian territory before beating Livakovic.

In the second half, Messi on a solo run put Croatia's 20-year-old defender Josko Gvardiol to shame as he provided a magical assist to Alvarez, who then scored Argentina's third goal.

Alvarez, who joined Manchester City in the summer of 2022, became the youngest player (22 years, 316 days) to score twice in a World Cup semi-final or final since Pelé in 1958 (17y, 249d), according to Opta Joe.

Messi won the Man of the Match award Tuesday, which was his fourth in the 2022 World Cup – no player has more.

Argentina's Lionel Scaloni, who entered the World Cup as the youngest coach at 44 years, took over the charge of a broken side in 2018, which had lost two finals and were eliminated from the Russia World Cup in the Round of 16.

Scaloni led Argentina to Copa America success last year, their first trophy since 1993. His side is now one win away from their first World Cup title since 1986. Scaloni heaped praise on Messi, saying the 35-year-old forward is the "best in history."

"I think there's no doubt that Messi is the best in history. It seems we say it because we are Argentines, but no. Every time he plays, he generates something. It's a privilege that he wears the light blue & white," said Scaloni after the match at Lusail Stadium.

Messi has taken his goals tally to five in the Qatar World Cup. He is the joint-leading scorer alongside his Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) teammate Kylian Mbappe, who will be in action Wednesday for France against Morocco in the second semi-final.

The winner of the fixture will face off against Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday.