A second chance: How Messi’s Argentina reached the World Cup final again

Favorites entering the tournament With the help of their inspiring captain Lionel Messi, who has risen to the top of the tournament’s scoring rankings, Argentina faltered at the first World Cup obstacle before putting their act together to blast into another final.

Argentina lost to Germany in the World Cup final eight years ago, but this time around Messi has a supporting cast and Lionel Scaloni, their tactically smart coach, who has led them to the championship game in Qatar.

The following is Argentina’s path to the final:

GROUP STAGE MATCH 1: ARGENTINA 1-2 SAUDI ARABIA

The last thing Scaloni’s team expected after entering the tournament with a 36-match unbeaten streak was to lose to Saudi Arabia 2-1, which was statistically the biggest shock in World Cup history.

Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the first half before Messi’s penalty in the tenth minute helped the Saudis shock the South American champions.

If there was any consolation in the outcome for Argentina, it was that they still made it to the championship game in 1990 after losing to Cameroon in their group opener.

But as Messi urged his team to “return to the foundation of who we are,” Scaloni maintained his composure.

GROUP STAGE MATCH 2: ARGENTINA 2-0 MEXICO

Messi has never really been regarded as Diego Maradona’s equal due to the lack of a World Cup trophy in his trophy case, but against Mexico he equaled the late Argentina great’s mark of 21 games and eight goals at the finals.

After more than an hour of play, the score remained 0-0. Messi chose his time and place, shooting from 20 meters away to beat goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa by the slightest of margins.

In the midst of an electrifying atmosphere at Lusail Stadium, the largest venue in Qatar, substitute Enzo Fernandez produced another exquisite goal to secure the points and send Argentina on their way.

“Today starts another World Cup for Argentina,” Messi had said after admitting they were poor in the first half. “We started to play the ball better (in the second half) and until the goal we went back to being what we are.”

GROUP STAGE MATCH 3: POLAND 0-2 ARGENTINA

Messi, the club’s all-time leading scorer, led his team to victory in a match between Barcelona’s past and present, while Robert Lewandowski, the team’s leading scorer this season, was held without a shot on goal.

After a VAR check, Messi was fortunate to be awarded a disputed penalty, but he was unable to convert when goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny maintained composure and stopped him.

Nevertheless, despite missing the goal, Messi was the focal point of Argentina’s offense and took charge in his free-agent position up front. Alexis MacAllister and Julian Alvarez also scored to help Argentina win the group.

“We tried to stay positive, to stay calm (after Messi missed his penalty),” Mac Allister said. “We did not feel down, we tried to be optimistic. Fortunately we managed to win and go through.”

LAST 16: ARGENTINA 2-1 AUSTRALIA

When Messi scored in his 1000th match to surpass Maradona’s World Cup total during a physical last-16 contest against Australia, everything looked to be falling into place for him.

In spite of four Australian defenders attempting to close the gap, Messi, 35, reacted quickly to a brief layoff and curled the ball home for a goal that was reminiscent of his best. It was almost as if time stood still for everyone else except the 35-year-old.

Alvarez made it 2-0, but Fernandez’s own goal brought on a frantic end in which Argentina managed to prevail.

When Messi scored in his 1000th match to surpass Maradona’s World Cup total during a physical last-16 contest against Australia, everything looked to be falling into place for him.

In spite of four Australian defenders attempting to close the gap, Messi, 35, reacted quickly to a brief layoff and curled the ball home for a goal that was reminiscent of his best. It was almost as if time stood still for everyone else except the 35-year-old.

Alvarez made it 2-0, but Fernandez’s own goal brought on a frantic end in which Argentina managed to prevail.

“Now we have a really tough clash with Holland, who play very well. They have great players and a great coach, it’s going to be hard-fought,” Messi had said.

His words proved to be prophetic.

QUARTER-FINAL: NETHERLANDS 2-2 ARGENTINA(3-4 ON PENALTIES)

The match between Argentina and the Netherlands included four goals, an equalizer at the very end, brawls with the team benches emptying, a suspenseful penalty shootout, charges of unsportsmanlike conduct, 16 yellow cards, and one red card.

Scaloni (44) defeated Louis van Gaal (71), who traded football’s ideals for pragmatism by using 6-foot-6 striker Wout Weghorst to trouble the defense, in a matchup of the World Cup’s youngest and oldest coaches.

Messi was prominent once more as he set up the game’s opening goal for Nahuel Molina with a pass from an impossible angle and then scored a penalty. Weghorst then scored a goal to send the game into overtime following a deft free kick routine.

a traumatized After the last-second equalizer, Argentina rebounded, and in the shootout, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made two saves before Lautaro Martinez completed the task to eliminate the Dutch in a tense match.

The bad blood spilt over into the tunnel too with plenty of words exchanged. But after things had calmed down, Messi said: “Diego (Maradona) is watching us from heaven. He is pushing us and I really hope this stays the same until the end.”

SEMI-FINAL: ARGENTINA 3-0 CROATIA

Argentina was expected to be tested by a match against Croatia, a team that hadn’t won a knockout game in regular time since 1998, but they breezed through it thanks to Messi’s nearly solo victory over the runners-up from last year.

Alvarez earned the penalty that Messi expertly converted and scored twice as well. His first goal came after a fantastic solo run from the halfway line that allowed him to outrun three defenders.

But once more, Messi was in charge. He provided the crucial touch that allowed Alvarez to advance toward goal before setting up his young strike partner for the simple finish with a run from the halfway line and dribble past defender Josko Gvardiol.

Messi was praised as the “greatest player in the world” by Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic, who claimed that he made the difference, while Argentina’s captain pushed his team to perform well one final time on Sunday.

“We have played five finals (since the Saudi defeat) and we were lucky to win five finals. I hope it will be like this for the final game,” said Messi, who joined France’s Kylian Mbappe atop the scoring charts with five goals at the tournament.

On Sunday, Argentina will compete against either France, the defending champion, or Morocco.

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