Qatar Data: Mercurial Messi one step away from history as Croatia and Modric head home
The South Americans were the favourites ahead of the game against the Croatians and just before the opening whistle - the probability of them winning was 51%. The Croatians were only at 20%, with the rest down as a draw.
However, the Qatar World Cup has already shown several times that pre-match predictions are one thing, but the reality on the pitch can be quite different, so the Argentines had to be at their best. In the first half an hour, they took time to get their bearings and then began to dominate. Lionel Messi laid the foundations from the penalty spot, surpassing his compatriot Gabriel Batistuta in the goalscoring charts with his 11th career World Cup goal.
The legend was then followed by the crown prince of Argentine football, Julian Alvarez. After Messi, the Manchester City striker secured two goals and, at the age of 22, became the youngest player to score twice in a World Cup semi-final since Pelé in 1958. This is the fifth time in history that Argentina have won a World Cup semi-final - they have never lost at this stage of the tournament.
The tactics of the South Americans in this game were magnificent. The Croatians had more possession of the ball, made more passes, but only produced a few dangerous chances.
As the chart of expected goals shows - from the first goal of the match there was practically no doubt about who was the better team in this semi-final.
Argentina's game, of course, revolved around Messi. You can see from his heatmap that the epicentre of his movement this time was the space in the middle of the pitch near the right touchline.
Messi drew level with Lotthar Mathäus’ appearance record with his 25th World Cup start and he has contributed to nineteen goals during his World Cup career, equalling other legends Ronaldo, Gerd Muller and Miroslav Klose.
Incidentally, before this tournament, Messi had not scored a single goal in a World Cup knockout game. But this year, he has scored in all three.
This is what the table of the leading goalscorers at this year's tournament currently looks like. The five-goal duo of PSG teammates Kylian Mbappé and Messi reign supreme, followed by Olivier Giroud and Messi's partner Alvarez on four. Argentina, thanks largely to this duo, continue to have hopes of winning their first World Cup since 1986.
See Argentina vs Croatia at Flashscore
We now know the name of the first team to make it to the World Cup final in Qatar. We also know how Argentina made it to the final, and all that remains is to see who they will be playing on Sunday.
Will the tale of brave Morocco continue or will France confirm their role as pre-game favourites? That and a host of other interesting football stats will be with you in the next episode of Qatar Data. Until then, have a great day.
