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Two stars collide one last time 🌟⚽️🏟️🏆

Just like in 2018's World Cup in Russia, we have Croatia appearing in the semi-finals. This time they will face Argentina. The first of the two semi-final matches looked to be a battle of the century with superstars like Lionel Messi and Luka Modrić leading their nations. You surely remember back when Messi played for Barcelona and he faced off against Modrić and Real Madrid in the famous El Clásico many times.

Lionel Messi and Luka Modrić are two professional soccer players who are considered among the best in the world, although both are getting up there in age now. Messi is an Argentine forward who currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain, while Modric is a Croatian midfielder who plays for Real Madrid. Both players have won numerous individual and team awards, and have been instrumental in their teams' successes. Neither has won a World Cup. Many fans consider each player to be the face of their country. We have what will be the final Messi vs Modrić World Cup match and this individual matchup is the most anticipated of them all.

Croatia has yet to lose a match at this year's World Cup, although they did draw twice. Argentina of course lost their opening match but managed to bounce back since then. Even with these stats at hand, Argentina was predicted to win this match. Now time to see if the outcome was as expected.

Let's recap another game from the knockout stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar...

Argentina🇦🇷 vs Croatia🇭🇷

^{My Prediction: Argentina}

I knew this match would be highly competitive and I was right. The start of the match was 50/50 and neither team would give an edge. That was until the 30th or so minute when Croatia's goalkeeper Livaković fouled Julián Álvarez inside of the box. The result was a yellow card and a penalty kick. Lionel Messi took yet another pk and nailed it in the 34th minute. Just like that, Argentina had the lead.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1602748540362653696?s=20&t=atQ2pMrAAX35F2zrt23mEA
- FOXSoccer

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1602748996967366657?s=20&t=Da6-JvR65u72ESZ9OwSwwQ
- FOXSoccer

Just because Argentina had the lead did not mean the match was over. Argentina has blown multiple leads at this World Cup and Croatia has come back to win after being down. Croatia knew not to panic and Argentina knew their work was far from done. To the surprise of most viewers, Argentina scored a second goal less than five minutes after the first. It was Julián Álvarez getting on the score sheet in the 39th minute this time. Just look at this magnificent fastbreak that turned into such an incredible goal.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1602750461336899586?s=20&t=WGtmxF8CfDr4tCxxy8agAw
- FOXSoccer

Croatia was now under siege and Argentina was throwing an advanced attack at them. Going into halftime, Argentina was feeling it and you could see that Messi was ready to go into full magician mode.

The second half was mostly without major action, that was until the 69th minute when Messi started dancing around inside of the box. Messi gave Julián Álvarez a beautiful assist which led to the third goal of the match. At this point, it seemed to be pretty much over for Croatia.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1602762969762648064?s=20&t=jaYB9VS_xNQWBUkOOGzZKA
- FOXSoccer

This match ended with Argentina clearly looking like the better team. This was Croatia's worst loss in World Cup history. At no point during this match did it seem like Croatia was going to win. Argentina has to feel very confident going into the finals match as they await the winner of France vs Morocco. Croatia still has another game to play for third place, but it just will not be the same as going to the finals.

Result: 3-0 in favor of Argentina

Messi is one step closer to a World Cup 👀

I expected Croatia to keep up better than they did, but Argentina had their best match of this World Cup so far. It was too much to handle and now I just wonder if Argentina will bring this same energy into the finals. Argentina, Messi, and his gigantic fanbase are dying to bring home a World Cup. Messi has plenty of records, but he does not yet have a World Cup.

^{Don't forget about the Hive account@hivebuzz World Cup contest @hivebuzz/wc2022}