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Lionel Messi is unstoppable. In what is likely to be his last World Cup, the star player for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) is lighting up the stage in Qatar. He stepped up when the team needed him. On Tuesday, at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, during the first half of their semi-final match against Croatia, the team’s captain scored a penalty.
Lionel Messi scored his fifth goal of the tournament in Qatar. From the penalty spot, he blasted the ball into the top right corner, giving Dominik Livakovic no chance. The Croatian goalkeeper dove to the right side, but he couldn’t even touch Messi’s powerful shot. Messi had been holding his hamstring a few minutes before the first goal.
In the 34th minute of the big semi-final, Julian Alvarez was trying to get on the end of a ball played down the middle by Enzo Fernandez. Livakovic fouled him inside the box.
Messi kept his cool as he scored a goal with his powerful left foot. He listened to the cheers of the tens of thousands of Argentina fans who had packed the Lusail Stadium to the rafters.
Messi tied France’s Kylian Mbappe for the lead in the race for the Golden Boot with his skillful penalty kick. Both players now have 5 goals. Mbappe will play against Morocco in the second semifinal on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi also broke Gabriel Batistuta’s record of 10 World Cup goals scored by an Argentina player. He now has 11. Messi played in his 25th World Cup game, tying Lothar Matthaeus’s record.
Messi didn’t have as many World Cup goals as his idol Diego Maradona when he went to the World Cup in Qatar. However, he has already passed Maradona with his great play in this, Messi’s 5th World Cup.
Most FIFA World Cup Goals For Argentina
- Lionel Messi has 11 in 25 appearances
- Gabriel Batistuta – 10 in 12 appearances
- Guillermo Stabile – 8 in 4 appearances
- Diego Maradona – 8 in 21 appearances
- Mario Kempes has scored 6 goals in 18 games.
Argentina went into halftime with a 2-0 lead after Julian Alvarez scored a great run and goal on a counterattack in the 39th minute to make it 2-0.
