Lionel Messi on Argentina’s win over Croatia: “I didn’t want to lose today. We were very confident from the start.” | OneFootball

Argentina went from losing their first match against Saudi Arabia to the World Cup final after dismantling the 2018 World Cup finalist in a 3-0 victory. Lionel Messi has rolled back the hands of time to put on vintage Messi performances throughout the competition. Against Croatia, the Argentinian striker not only scored a goal and an assist, but tied the record for the most World Cup appearances with German legend – Lothar Matthaüs.

The PSG superstar had this to say about the match, “A lot of things go through your mind after this qualification. It’s very exciting to see all our supporters here, all these people, this family. It’s something incredible what we’re going through. We are going to play the final, that’s what we wanted. I’ve been making the most of this World Cup since I arrived in Qatar. I didn’t want to lose today. We were very confident from the start, we were aware of what we are worth. Now Argentina is in the World Cup final. You have to take advantage of it all.”

Messi goes into the final of the World Cup tied with PSG teammate, Kylian Mbappé, with the most goals in the World Cup and in a 4-way tie for the most assists, with 3. Statistically this has been one of his very best of his 5 World Cups.

Argentina awaits the winner of France and Morocco. However, either team may be able to give Argentina difficulty. In the match against the Netherlands, Argentina struggled with the substitutes brought in to create a mismatch against the smaller defenders. Argentina will also want to take revenge for France eliminating them from the 2018 World Cup if Les Bleus are able to advance to the final. Regardless if it is France or Morocco, football history is on the line in the 2022 World Cup final.