Messi, Alvarez fire Argentina into World Cup final

LUSAIL, Qatar - Julian Alvarez scored twice and Lionel Messi converted a first-half penalty as Argentina reached the World Cup final with an emphatic 3-0 win over Croatia here on Tuesday.

Messi put Argentina ahead in the 34th minute by rifling home from the spot after Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic clattered into Alvarez when he was through on goal.

Alvarez made it 2-0 when he gathered the ball in his own half before embarking on a brilliant solo run and bundling home from close range.

The Manchester City forward doubled his personal tally with a close-range finish after Messi twisted past his marker and crossed from the right byline.

It was another vintage performance from Messi, who seems a man on a mission in his fifth, and likely last, appearance at football's showpiece tournament.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner has now netted five times and provided three assists at Qatar 2022 and his strike here saw him surpass Gabriel Batistuta as Argentina's all-time leading World Cup scorer with 11 goals.

Argentina will play the winner of Wednesday's other semifinal between defending champions France and Morocco in the final on Sunday.

Albiceleste manager Lionel Scaloni made two changes to the team that beat the Netherlands on penalties in the quarterfinals. Nicolas Tagliafico replaced the suspended Marcos Acuna at left-back while Leandro Paredes came in for Lisandro Martinez.

Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic named an unchanged team after his side's quarterfinal win over Brazil, also on penalties.

Both teams struggled to create danger early and it took into the 25th minute for the game's first shot on target: a low effort from Enzo Fernandez that was palmed away by Livakovic.

While Croatia dominated possession, much of it was in their own half, leaving Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric mostly isolated in attack. Perisic created a nervous moment for Argentina's defense with some fancy footwork on the left flank and a chipped effort that floated narrowly over the bar.