Lionel Messi all set for one last crack at the World Cup after working his magic against Croatia

Lionel Messi is one step away from World Cup glory after a spellbinding performance in Argentina’s demolition of Croatia in Tuesday night’s semi-final in Doha.

The Argentina captain has never won football’s biggest prize but will have one last chance against France or Morocco back at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday.

Despite appearing to tweak a hamstring early on Wednesday night, he scored a first-half penalty to give his team the lead and then, after Julian Alvarez had doubled the lead before the break, Messi turned on the style to create one of the goals of the tournament for the Manchester City striker midway through the second period.

He first tucked home Argentina’s opening goal from the penalty spot in the first half

Afterwards man of the match Messi said: ‘I am enjoying this World Cup a lot. I am feeling really good and strong enough to face anything.

‘It wasn’t easy. We were tired but we found our strength to earn the victory. We finished the game in a very good way and I feel very happy now.

‘This squad goes beyond the collective. It’s intelligent and clever. We can read games and we know how to suffer when necessary and what to do with the ball when it’s needed. We have played excellent technical football.’

Croatia were looking to reach a successive final after losing to France in Moscow four-and-a-half years ago and actually contributed more to this game than the scoreline suggests.

Then Messi left Josko Gvardiol for dead before teeing up Julian Alvarez for their third goal

It was the Argentina captain at his best, and he now has one last chance to win the World Cup

On Sunday Messi will face France or Morocco in what promises to be his last World Cup game

Indeed, they were on top until Alvarez won a dubious penalty for Messi to score in the 34th minute. Alvarez was through on goal but appeared to poke the ball past the Croatia goalkeeper and then run into him.

‘We know what to do in every moment of the game,’ added Messi. ‘We know how to win. We knew we would have to run. We knew their strengths. We knew they would have possession.

‘The first game when we lost to Saudi Arabia was hard for us because we had been unbeaten for so long. It was such a hard blow.

‘To come back has proved how strong we are. It’s been difficult as every game has felt like a final. That’s been a heavy mental load. We have played and won five finals and I hope it’s the same in the last game. We were confident we would make it as we understand the fine details. We have grown a lot in this tournament.’

Messi has scored five goals and contributed three assists so far at this World Cup.

He is calling on his international team-mates to pull out one more ‘final’ victory on Sunday

The ITV pundits hailed ‘genius’ Messi for Tuesday night’s astonishing performance.

‘He was player of the tournament in 2014, didn’t quite work out in 2018, now this is his last one and he’s got them to the final,’ said Ian Wright. ‘Argentina are on that journey. They have a genius with them, and he’s got a team around him fighting tooth and nail, for themselves and for him.’

Gary Neville echoed Wright’s comments, highlighting how Argentina captain Messi has stepped up to lead his side into the final with five goals in this World Cup, joint-top alongside France’s Kylian Mbappe.

‘That third goal was a moment of genius,’ said Neville. ‘He’s got 10 fighters who are scrapping around him. It’s a mission and one that Messi is delivering on his own at the moment.’

Roy Keane was similarly gushing in his praise for the Paris Saint-Germain forward, who tied Lothar Matthaus’ record of 25 World Cup appearances on Tuesday night.

Messi can cement his status as perhaps the greatest of all time by claiming victory in the final

‘It’s a pleasure to watch him, it really is,’ said Keane. ‘The level he’s at at his age, and doing it against really good players.

‘Do you know what, I really hope he goes on to win the World Cup, it would be the icing on the cake. We thought he’d lost that little bit of acceleration, but he hasn’t.

‘He chooses when to use it. He reads the situation, he’s so smart. If he thinks someone is too tight he’ll roll them and pick the right pass.’