Soccer-Argentina's Alvarez takes his chance, and then some

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Semi Final - Argentina v Croatia - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - December 13, 2022 Argentina's Julian Alvarez scores their third goal as Croatia's Dominik Livakovic looks on REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

LUSAIL, Qatar (Reuters) - 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.