Lionel Messi-led Argentina take on Croatia in the first semifinal of the 2022 FIFA World Cup at Lusail Stadium.
Argentina legend Lionel Messi, who is playing in his fifth and most likely final edition of the FIFA World Cup, will leave no stone unturned to outclass Luka Modric-led Croatia at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old Modric is playing his fourth World Cup which is likely his last appearance in the mega tournament. The star player will aim to upset Messi, and get his country the first world title under his captaincy.
35-year-old Messi has had a remarkable career, establishing himself as one of the greatest footballers of all time. He is often compared to the late Diego Maradona, the legendary footballer who too played for Argentina like Messi.
The last time Argentina won the FIFA World Cup was in 1986, under Maradona’s captaincy. Messi holds the record of winning the Spanish leagues, ten times. The Argentinian legend has won four Champions Leagues and recently, last year, he won Copa America. Apart from this, he has also won the Ballon d’Or award record seven times.
Messi has achieved almost everything but is yet to win the FIFA World Cup trophy, for which he has been playing in every World Cup for the last 16 years (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and now 2022). Eight years ago, Messi led Argentina to the 2014 World Cup final, losing 0-1 to Germany.
It is highly likely that Croatia might clash against France in the FIFA World Cup knockout round for the third time. For the unversed, Croatia lost to France in the World Cup 1998 semi-finals and the FIFA World Cup final of 2018.
FIFA World Cup 2022 2nd semi-final will be played between France and Morocco on Wednesday. The winner of this match and the winning teams of the first semi-final will compete for the final.
Argentina predicted starting lineup for FIFA World Cup 2022 match against Croatia: E. Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; Fernandez, De Paul, Mac Allister; Di Maria, Messi, Alvarez
Croatia predicted starting lineup for FIFA World Cup 2022 match against Argentina: Livakovic; Juranovic, Gvardiol, Lovren, Sosa; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Pasalic, Kramaric, Perisic
