Lionel Messi gave himself one last shot at World Cup glory as he and Julian Alvarez scored for Argentina in a 3-0 win over Croatia at the Lusail Iconic Stadium to reach the final
They will face either France or Morocco, who play in Wednesday's semi-final, on Sunday
Messi fired into the top corner from the penalty spot (34) against the run of play to open the scoring after Man City striker Alvarez earned a debatable penalty following a collision with Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic
With that strike, the 35-year-old surpassed Gabriel Batistuta to become Argentina's top scorer at World Cup finals on 11 goals
Croatia collapsed after the opener and conceded another five minutes later from an Argentina counter-attack after comical defending as Alvarez doubled their lead (39) having carried the ball from his own half
Messi took matters into his own hands to ensure the game was out of reach, producing a moment of magic down the right to beat Josko Gvardiol before putting it on a plate for Alvarez to score Argentina's third
Argentina last reached the World Cup final in 2014 in Brazil and were beaten by Germany, but have not lifted the trophy since Diego Maradona led his nation to victory in Mexico in 1986
Croatia bossed the opening half an hour and Messi was largely anonymous as he walked across the field at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, waiting for his team-mates to spring to life
The game was turned on its head when Alvarez won a penalty just after the half-hour mark
 Croatia were caught out at the back by a simple ball over the top from Argentina and Alvarez was brought down by Livakovic after he pushed the ball past the goalkeeper
 pundit Gary Neville was adamant the decision was wrong, arguing the goalkeeper did very little wrong
"The goalkeeper just stops," he told 
 "He has to make that motion to try and save the ball, he plants his feet
 I don't know how that's a penalty
"If I'm a defender and the striker is about to have a shot and I go to block, he then shoots, goes past me and runs into me, that can't be a foul
 You have to block the shot!"Messi stepped up to the spot, as he did against the Netherlands in the round before, and gave Argentina the lead with an emphatic strike into the top corner
Having looked so strong before, Croatia appeared to lose their heads and suffered another blow five minutes later as Alvarez rode two challenges in the area after carrying the ball from his own half before poking a composed finish beyond Livakovic to make it 2-0
Celtic right-back Josip Juranovic was perhaps unlucky to see the ball ricochet off him and back into Alvarez's path, but Borna Sosa crumbled under the pressure and allowed the 22-year-old through on goal leaving out a flailing leg to no avail
Croatia brought on Bruno Petkovic, who scored an extra-time equaliser in stoppage time in last week's quarter-final against Brazil, in an attempt to turn the game, but Messi had other ideas
The Paris Saint-Germain forward, intent on ensuring he gave himself one more chance to win the only trophy that has eluded him, rolled back the years against Gvardiol down the right flank as he turned the 20-year-old inside out with a mesmerising run before cutting it back to Alvarez from the byline
Alvarez made no mistake from just outside the six-yard box as he became the youngest player to score twice in a World Cup semi-final or final since Pele in 1958
Messi now has the chance to win the only trophy missing from his collection on Sunday, in his final World Cup appearance
Speaking after the match, Messi said: "I am enjoying this a lot
 I am feeling really good, I feel strong enough to face every match
 The previous match was a big sacrifice
"Today we were tired, but we pulled out strength to earn the victory
 We played very well, we preferred to play this way because we knew they would not have the ball
 We knew we would have to run
 We prepared in a very good way
"I feel very happy in this World Cup
 I am able to help the squad
"He added: "I would say the first match [the defeat against Saudi Arabia] was a hard blow because we had been unbeaten in six matches
 To start in such a way in a World Cup, we did not think we would lose to Saudi Arabia
"It was an acid test of the whole squad but we proved how strong we are
 We won the other matches and it was very difficult what we did
 Every match was a final and we were aware if we did not win things would be complicated for us
"We have won five finals and I hope this is the case for the final on Sunday
 We lost in the first match due to fine details but it helped us to be stronger
""Argentina have got 10 fighters and a genius up front
 They've got the best fans in the tournament as well
 They've grown in the tournament
"It's a mission
 One he [Messi] is delivering on his own at the moment
"Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic said: "Perhaps this is the end of the generation of the World Cups, a couple have reached an age and have to see what happens in 2026
"We have had a great team and this generation will finish off their career at Euro 2024
 We have the National League and an excellent generation who reached two semi-finals
"Asked about his own future, Dalic said: "I will continue, my contract is until 2024
 We have the Nations League then the World Cup qualifications too
 My plan and objective is to take Croatia to Euro 2024
"Asked about Messi, he added: "Nothing much needs to be said about Messi
 The best player in the world and very good and very dangerous today
 It is the true Messi we expected to see
"
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