World hits and misses: Is Messi the new king in town?

Argentina has sailed through to the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar after smashing Croatia 3-0 with Lionel Messi displaying stellar performances.

Lionel Messi rose to the occasion when Argentina needed him most and he netted a goal for his country just to secure a spot in the World Cup finals.

Messi netted the first goal of the match through a penalty before Julian Alvarez of Manchester City scored two other goals for Argentina.

READ: 'Rigged World Cup' - Reactions to Alvarez 'dive' as Messi inspires Argentina past Croatia to World Cup final

Dominik Livakovic fouled Alvarez inside the penalty box hence triggering the referee to award the spot kick. Messi confirmed it with a goal moments later before the end of the first half.

Luka Modric was kicked out of the World Cup tournament together with his entire Croatian team after failing to keep up with Argentina's tempo.

Croatia suffered a 3-0 loss to Argentina in a match that saw Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez score before 90 minutes. Alvarez scored a brace.

Croatia had defied all odds to reach the semi-finals but they ended up playing boring football as they sat back and defended most of the time to avoid conceding many goals.

It goes without a doubt that Luka Modric will retire without a World Cup trophy despite winning all the other prestigious silverware in his career with Real Madrid.

The player came close to winning the World Cup in 2018 but lost 4-2 to France in a thriller match in Russia.