While the Croats are one of the stronger teams in world football today, they stood no chance against the white and sky blue.
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The semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup was an absolute treat for fans across the world as France and Argentina booked their tickets to the biggest stage of the beautiful game, the world cup final. Argentina was up first against Croatia. While the Croats are one of the stronger teams in world football today, they stood no chance against the white and sky blue. Captain Lionel Messi was in impeccable form as he scored one and assisted another to hand his side a 3-0 victory. On the other hand, France had to hold their breaths in their semi-final against Morocco. The African nation have shocked the world after reaching the last four of the competition but the defending champions proved to be just too strong for them. The score at the end of the match was 2-0 in Les Bleus’ favour.
The dream run of the African team in Qatar came to an end on Wednesday night when France defeated Morocco 2-0 in the World Cup semifinals at the Al Bayt Stadium. Theo Hernandez’s early goal and Randal Kolo Muani’s late tap-in gave defending champions France a tough victory over a Morocco team that made African World Cup history at the 2022 competition. Argentina, which defeated Croatia on Tuesday with a score of 3-0, will now play Didier Deschamps’ team in the World Cup final, marking the first meeting between the two heavyweights.
Within five minutes, France put an end to Moroccan hopes of pulling off another miraculous comeback when Hernandez met a ball that had fallen to him at the back post and volleyed it past Yassine Bounou. The north Africans were severely hampered by injuries to their key centre backs. The risky decision to start Nayef Aguerd did not pay off because he injured his hamstring during the warm-up, and captain Romain Saiss was forced to leave the game after 20 minutes.
Argentina defeated Croatia 3-0 on Tuesday to advance to the World Cup final, with Lionel Messi playing a key role in the victory. Argentina’s all-time leading goal scorer at World Cup finals, Messi, opened the scoring with a powerfully hit penalty on minute 34. Minutes later, Alvarez finished a direct solo run through the centre of Croatia’s defence and tapped in to double Argentina’s lead just before halftime.
With the help of Messi’s trademark run, which saw him slip past Josko Gvardiol and then pass the ball back to Alvarez for an easy goal, the team’s third goal was added by Alvarez. Argentina, who has won the World Cup twice (1978 and 1986), will play either France or Morocco in the championship game on Sunday. Croatia, who placed second in Russia four years ago, leaves the tournament after making another unexpected run to the semifinals.
“Throughout the World Cup it has been incredible what we have experienced. We are going to play the final which is what we wanted,” Messi said. “I don’t know if it’s my best World Cup, it’s been a long time I’ve been enjoying. This team is crazy. We are going to play one more final, we are going to enjoy all of this.”
