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Messi played a starring role in La Albiceleste’s 3-0 triumph in Lusail, producing both a goal and an assist to squash Croatia’s hopes and prolong his own, all in pursuit of football’s holy grail.
It certainly wasn’t the performance Zlatko Dalic had envisioned when he delivered his desired tactics before kick-off, especially not from Gvardiol, the man many believe has been the best defender in Qatar.
The 20-year-old’s instructions were clear from the outset: press Messi the moment he receives the ball, and when he doesn’t, stay as tight as you can.
This mission to man-mark arguably the game’s greatest ever player worked well for the opening half an hour, in truth, particularly as Croatia maintained possession through the formidable midfield trio of Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic.
Modric’s movement, coupled with Kovacic’s turn of pace, forced Messi to drop deeper into midfield as a result, and left strike partner Julian Alvarez isolated at the top of Argentina’s attack.
As Messi retreated, so too did Gvardiol, but what transpired in the 10 minutes before half-time would quickly become the formula to foil Dalic’s plans, and even create the game’s opening goal.
“Gvardiol, for the entire game, has been stepping into midfield to mark Messi because he’s on Argentina’s right-hand side,” SBS World Cup analyst Craig Foster said of the RB Leipzig defender.
“That’s what opens the space for the ball over the top. He’s looking inside, he’s on Messi, so he leaves a one-on-one and Alvarez makes a lovely run in behind.
“This is the third penetrating ball that they played, pretty much for virtually the same reason. So, the plan that Croatia had, for the best defender in the tournament to be close to Messi, has ended up costing them.”
Alvarez was later fouled by goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic following a long ball inside the box, allowing Messi to score his fifth goal of the campaign and third of the knockout stages after converting against Australia and the Netherlands.
Though a slice of considerable luck allowed Alvarez to double his nation’s lead before the break, Messi’s next meaningful run-in with Gvardiol was nothing of the sort – in fact, it was remarkable.
With the 35-year-old now permanently placed behind Alvarez as part of Lionel Scaloni’s altered 5-3-1-1 setup, a neat exchange near the sideline allowed the Paris Saint-Germain star to again isolate Gvardiol out of position and beat him for pace, before skilfully doing so again to find Alvarez for his game-sealing second.
It was a lesson of sorts for Gvardiol and yet another display of Argentina’s ability in transition – one at a level not seen by Scaloni’s side in their first five matches of the tournament.
However, as Foster explains, Croatia’s shortcomings were perhaps not so much a reflection of Gvardiol’s performance, but rather a reminder of the difficulty that comes with stopping the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
“The trouble with Messi is: if you stand off him, he’ll get his head up, he’ll play someone in, and they will score,” Foster added.
“If you go tight, that’s what he likes; the more that you make a challenge, he skips past you – that’s how he beats people.”
Messi now has five goals to go with three assists ahead of the final, and you feel the little magician might have one more trick up his sleeve for whoever dares stand in his way.
