World Cup: Lionel Messi Sends Strong Message After Beating Croatia, Reaching Finals

By Rick Martin Dec 13 2022, 19:51 PM EST

With his career winding down, Lionel Messi may be on the cusp of winning his first and what may be his only World Cup as he and Argentina demolished Croatia 3-0.

The World Cup semifinal matches kicked off with some Messi Magic as the man many say is Soccer's GOAT started the scoring with a penalty goal in the 34th minute before helping out Julian Alvarez score Argentina's next two goals, eliminating the scrappy Croatians who were fresh off their upset victory over tournament favorites Brazil.

According to Clutch Points, this may be one of Messi's biggest matches in his entire career, and that is saying something. Many experts are saying that this may be his best performance in Qatar yet, as Messi made his presence felt not only with that opening goal but also with his beautiful assist to Alvarez.

Lionel Messi Taking It All In As He Reaches 2022 World Cup Final

Messi looked very good in the match against Croatia, with 63 touches, one goal, two shots on target and one assist. He also created two big chances and had 34/40 accurate passes and 5/7 successful dribbles.

According to Diario AS, when asked if he feels this was his best performance in the World Cup, he simply said "I don't know if it's my best World Cup or not. He added "I've been enjoying this a lot for a long time. We were confident that this group was going to pull it off. We know what we are and we ask the people to believe in us."

He then urged fans to enjoy the rest of the World Cup, saying, "Argentina is, once again, in the World Cup final. Enjoy!"

He also admitted that his team also had some tough moments, and some really good ones. However, he emphasized that people "experienced something spectacular" with Argentina's win. He then talked about what might be happening in his home country right now, saying, "I'm enjoying myself with all the people, and all the Argentinians that are in our country. I bet it's crazy right now!"

READ MORE: World Cup Semifinals: Will Croatia End Lionel Messi's Dream and Will Morocco Shock France?

A Send-Off For Croatia's Legendary Luka Mordric

While people have been talking about this being Messi's final World Cup, many overlooked the fact that this may be Croatian captain and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Mordric's final World Cup as well. Mordric is just as hungry as Messi, as he suffered heartbreak four years ago after leading Croatia to the World Cup final against France.

According to Fox Sports, like Messi, Mordric also knows what it feels like to lose in the World Cup final match, and also like Messi, he also won the prestigious Ballon d'Or award and was even Messi's rival in the Spanish La Liga.

Following Croatia's elimination, Mordric congratulated his old rival and hugged former Real Madrid teammate Angel di Maria before getting sent off by the crowd. FIFA also paid tribute to the legendary Croatian with this tweet: