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A magician. A cat with a string. A ballerina. An artiste. Pick any description you like, and it still won’t do Lionel Messi justice.
The best of his generation, possibly the best there’s ever been, has Argentina one game away from the World Cup title. Messi scored Argentina’s first goal, on yet another penalty, and had a sublime assist on the third, to bookend the 3-0 semifinal win Tuesday over Croatia, runners-up four years ago.
When the final whistle sounded, Messi bent over, put his hands on his knees and grinned. It was the smile of a man who is both happy and yet not anywhere close to being satisfied. Messi and Argentina advanced to Sunday’s final, where they’ll play either Morocco or France, the defending champion.
“We’re going to play the last game,” Messi said after the match. “That’s what we wanted.”
MAKING HISTORY: Messi sets several records in 2022 World Cup semifinal
BOX SCORE: Argentina 3, Croatia 0
MORE: Schedule, results for 2022 World Cup knockout rounds
Messi has won Champions League titles and set scoring records, and his seven Ballon d’Or trophies are more than any other player. His No. 10 jersey has become iconic, the light-blue-and-white-striped version in particular, found in every city around the world.
Yet for all of his success and accolades, there is one hole on Messi’s glittering résumé: the World Cup.
Argentina has made only one final with Messi, and they ran into a Germany team that was a buzzsaw in 2014.
