Argentina's Alvarez takes his chance, and then some

LUSAIL, Qatar : It was always going to take something special to steal the limelight from Lionel Messi on the night he matched Lothar Matthaeus's 25-match World Cup appearance record, but Julian Alvarez managed it, albeit with a bit of help from the great man.

Tuesday's semi-final had been cagey, with Croatia having most of the possession, before Alvarez burst through to chase a long ball and was brought down by goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic for a penalty that Messi converted in the 34th minute.

Five minutes later, Alvarez again charged from the halfway line, rode his luck as two attempted tackles merely kept the ball bobbling in his path, and nudged in the second goal.

He put the game beyond reach in the 70th minute with a simple finish after 35-year-old Messi had produced a piece of magical control to hit the byline and pull the ball back for his delighted 22-year-old team mate.

While Messi will now hope to bow out as an absolute superstar of the world game with the one trophy to elude him on his 172nd appearance in Sunday's final, Alvarez is at the other end of his career.

IN HAALAND'S SHADOW

After signing for Manchester City on his 22nd birthday he has hardly set the Premier League alight, perhaps unfortunate to be striving to make his name in the shadow of Erling Haaland, chalking up three goals in 12 less-than-memorable appearances.

On the international front, he arrived in Qatar with three goals to his name and behind Lautaro Martinez in the pecking order to play alongside Messi.

Argentina's stunning defeat by Saudi Arabia in the opener shook things up though and when he got his first start of the tournament in the third group game against Poland, he grabbed the opportunity by scoring in the 2-0 win.

He added another in the