FIFA World Cup 2022: How Lionel Messi’s Argentina reached the final vs France

Pre-tournament favourites Argentina stumbled at the first FIFA World Cup 2022 hurdle before getting their act together to storm into another final, led by their inspirational skipper Lionel Messi who has moved to the top of the tournament's scoring charts. Eight years ago, Messi dragged Argentina to the World Cup final only to lose to Germany but this time he has a supporting cast and a tactically astute coach in Lionel Scaloni who has guided them to the showpiece match in Qatar.

The following is Argentina’s path to the final…

Just like all of us - Honoured to have witnessed the Messi magic _

Watch the @Argentina star in the #FIFAWorldCup Final on Dec 18 - 7 pm __ LIVE on #JioCinema & #Sports18 __#Qatar2022 #FIFAWConJioCinema #FIFAWConSports18pic.twitter.com/JddD88qIf3 — JioCinema (@JioCinema) December 15, 2022

GROUP STAGE MATCH 1: ARGENTINA 1-2 SAUDI ARABIA

Argentina came into the tournament on the back of a 36-match unbeaten run and the last thing Scaloni’s side expected was to suffer what was statistically the biggest shock in World Cup history when Saudi Arabia beat them 2-1. Messi scored a 10th minute penalty in the first half where Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside before the Saudis struck twice in the second half to stun the South American champions.

If Argentina could take any solace from the result, it was that when they lost their group opener to Cameroon in 1990 they still reached the final.

GROUP STAGE MATCH 2: ARGENTINA 2-0 MEXICO

With a World Cup trophy missing in his cabinet, Messi has never really been considered as equal with Diego Maradona but against Mexico he matched the late Argentina great's record of 21 matches and eight goals at the finals. With the match deadlocked at 0-0 after more than an hour, Messi picked his moment and then picked his spot, firing home from 20 metres to beat goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa by the narrowest of margins.

Substitute Enzo Fernandez scored with another sublime strike to seal the points and set Argentina on their way amid an electric atmosphere at Lusail Stadium, the biggest arena in Qatar.

GROUP STAGE MATCH 3: POLAND 0-2 ARGENTINA

In a match between Barcelona’s past and present, it was the club’s record scorer Messi who saw his side triumph while Robert Lewandowski, Barca's top scorer this season, finished the game without a shot on goal. Messi was fortunate to win a controversial penalty after a VAR check but missed from the spot as goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny kept his cool and denied the Argentine skipper.

But, despite the miss, Messi was at the heart of Argentina's attacks and ran the show in his free role up front while Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez scored to ensure their side topped the group.

LAST 16: ARGENTINA 2-1 AUSTRALIA

The stars seemed to align for Messi in a physical last-16 clash with Australia as he scored in his 1,000th match to move past Maradona's World Cup tally. The goal was vintage Messi, almost as if time stood still for everyone else except the 35-year-old, who reacted quickly to a short layoff in little space to curl the ball home even as four Australia defenders tried to close the gap.

Alvarez made it 2-0 but an own goal from Fernandez set up a tense finish in which Argentina clung on for victory.

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

Four goals, an equaliser at the death, brawls with team benches emptying out, a tense penalty shootout, accusations of unsportsmanlike conduct, 16 yellow cards and one red card - the Netherlands-Argentina game had it all. In a battle between the youngest and oldest coaches at the World Cup, Scaloni (44) came out on top against Louis van Gaal (71), who discarded football purity for pragmatism by bringing on 6-foot, 6-inch striker Wout Weghorst to torment the defence.

Messi was front and centre again, finding Nahuel Molina with a pass from an impossible angle to set up the opener and then converted a penalty, but Weghorst headed home before taking the match to extra time after a clever free kick routine. A shell-shocked Argentina recovered from the last-gasp equaliser and in the shootout goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made two saves before Lautaro Martinez finished things off to eliminate the Dutch in an ill-tempered game.

SEMI-FINAL: ARGENTINA 3-0 CROATIA

A match against Croatia, a team who had not won a knockout game in normal time since 1998, was set to test Argentina but they passed with flying colours as Messi almost single-handedly dispatched the 2018 runners-up. Alvarez earned the penalty that Messi converted with aplomb and also scored twice, his first goal a fantastic solo run from the halfway line to beat three defenders.

But once again it was Messi running things, setting Alvarez through on goal with the crucial touch before his own run from the halfway line and dribble past defender Josko Gvardiol set up his young strike partner for the easy finish.

Argentina will play holders France in the final on Sunday.

(with Reuters inputs)