Is Messi winning the World Cup for Argentina inevitable? (1:48)Sam Marsden explains why he thinks Lionel Messi will finally get his hands on the World Cup trophy after Argentina eased into the final. (1:48)
AL DAAYEN, Qatar — When Luka Modric made his international debut for Croatia in March 2006, at the age of 21, Argentina and a 19-year-old Lionel Messi were his opponents. That day, Modric won the friendly encounter 3-2, Messi scored his first international goal and it was the beginning of a careerlong rivalry for club (Real Madrid vs. Barcelona) and country.
2 Related
Little did Modric know that 16 years later, his World Cup career (and possibly his international career) would end at the hands of the same player and opposition with a 3-0 semifinal defeat. Even if he plays in the third-place playoff on Saturday against either France or Morocco, his last big moment on football’s grandest stage — having been a finalist in 2018 against France and semifinalist in Qatar — was really his 161st cap on Tuesday night in the Lusail Iconic Stadium.
Despite a solid start against Argentina, including a beautiful nutmeg on Alexis Mac Allister after 30 minutes, it became too difficult for Croatia to recover once Messi and Julian Alvarez scored in a five-minute spell before half-time. It was not the right game for Modric to have an off day, but, at 37, he can’t always keep producing magic.
– World Cup 2022: News and features Schedule