LIONEL MESSI and Argentina are through to the World Cup final.Argentina defeated Croatia 3-0 in their semi-final to progress, and now face either France or Morocco in Sunday’s big final.
Elsewhere, Thomas Tuchel is in the frame for the England job after the Three Lions came crashing out of the World Cup in Qatar.
Gareth Southgate is set to consider his future, with two years left remaining on his contract.
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Messi still not in Piers’ top three greatest ever
Piers Morgan has named Lionel Messi as the FOURTH greatest footballer of all-time.
Messi, 35, reached his second World Cup final in sensational style on Tuesday night as he scored and assisted in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Croatia.
Yet despite Messi’s influencial displays in Qatar, Morgan still believes Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player of all time.
The SunSport columnist did begin by acknowledging Messi and Argentina for reaching the final.
Speaking on Twitter, he said: “Congratulations to Argentina & Lionel Messi on reaching the World Cup final. Never doubted them.”
But England legend Gary Lineker, who has always maintained Messi is the best ever, then asked Morgan: “Is there still a debate? Asking for a goat.”
To which he replied: “There isn’t. It’s Ronaldo.”
Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling then pressed him on his take, saying: “So where are we now @piersmorgan in the Ronaldo v Messi debate?”
And Morgan responded by insisting Messi doesn’t even break into his top three, ranking both Diego Maradona and even Brazilian Ronaldo ahead of him too.
He said: “I think Cristiano Ronaldo’s the best ever, Maradona 2nd, Messi 3rd (possibly 4th actually, behind R9 [Brazilian Ronaldo]).”
Conspiracy theory over Argentina penalties
FANS have launched a wild theory that the World Cup is “rigged” after Argentina were awarded their FOURTH penalty of the tournament.
Lionel Messi stepped up to dispatch their spot kick against Croatia, setting his side on the way to a 3-0 victory.
The 35-year-old produced a brilliant performance, bamboozling Josko Gvardiol before setting up his side’s third.
But some fans online have cried foul play, citing the number of penalties that Argentina have been awarded during the tournament.
The Albiceleste have had four spot kicks in Qatar, three of which have been scored by Messi.
And as conspiracy theories hit Twitter, one fan stated incorrectly: “This has to be the most rigged world cup ever. Argentina has got 5 penalties.”
While a second added: “How was that a penalty. This world cup is definitely rigged.”
Another conspiracy theorist wrote: “The whole World Cup is rigged for Messi to win it. Funny that some people still don’t believe it.”
Utd ‘make crazy offer to Benzema’
Manchester United are prepared to pay Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema a “crazy salary”.
That’s the claim from Spanish publication Nacional – with PSG also linked to the France legend.
Benzema, 34, won the Ballon d’Or winner in October but has missed the World Cup so far due to injury.
And he’s out of contract in the summer.
France hit by illness on semi-final eve
Illness has swept through the France World Cup camp on the eve of their semi-final.
The reigning champions face Morocco at the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday evening.
But their preparations have been hit with a major blow with a bug spreading within the squad.
Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot were both forced to sit out of training today.
And they are said to be serious doubts for the clash with Morocco.
Upamecano has a sore throat while Rabiot is also under the weather.
It means Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate and Youssef Fofana are on standby in case the first-choice duo cannot recover in time.
Konate and Fofana were drafted in against Tunisia while William Saliba, Matteo Guendouzi, Eduardo Camavinga and Jordan Veretout are alternative options for Deschamps.
Lloris: Texting Kane ‘not easy’
Hugo Lloris admits it “was not easy” finding the right words when he texted Tottenham team-mate Harry Kane after his World Cup quarter-final penalty woe.
Kane fired one spot-kick leveller but missed a second one late on as France won 2-1.
French keeper Lloris said: “It’s a difficult time for the England national team and Harry.
“We had a text after the game. It was not easy to find the words. He needed some time to rest.
“I think he can be proud of what he has done for the national team.
“In football history, many top players have missed penalties in their career – Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo.
“But I have no doubt Harry will keep his chin up and help Tottenham and the national team to shine.”
Morocco hand out 13,000 free tickets
The Moroccan Football Federation has announced it will give 13,000 free tickets to fans for Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against France.
Morocco have been the surprise package of the winter tournament.
They topped a group consisting of 2018 finalists Croatia, Belgium’s golden generation an an impressive Canadian side.
One-time World Cup winners, Spain, were then put to the sword in the round of 16 on penalties.
And a 1-0 win over Portugal in the quarters made Morocco the first African country to reach the last four.
Morocco boast an impressive defensive record, and are yet to concede a goal at the hands of an opposition player.
They have conceded just one goal at this year’s edition of the World Cup, and it was an own goal by Nayef Aguerd.
The West Ham defender steered the ball into the back of his own net against Canada in the group stages.
They will now square off with current world champions, France, on Wednesday for a spot in Sundays final, where Argentina await.
And according to the BBC, Morocco’s Football Federation has announced it will give 13,000 free tickets to fans to roar the team on.
Howe about Eddie next?
JACK WILSHERE EXCLUSIVE: If Gareth Southgate does leave the England job, I’d love the FA to try and get Eddie Howe.
I know how good Eddie is from my time at Bournemouth but people wondered whether he could make that step up to a bigger club.
Well, now he has shown at Newcastle how skilled he is at developing players and he’s turning them into title challengers.
The problem for the FA would be persuading him to swap his club for his country — and I’m not sure they’ll be able to do that.
But the England job is the pinnacle for any English coach and it might be hard to turn down if there is a proper offer on the table.
Eddie is so thorough in everything he does — from the way he organises the season, to his well-thought-out training sessions, to the one-to-one attention he gives players.
He’s a top man-manager. I’d only had Arsene Wenger as a club boss before I went to Bournemouth and he was a great man-manager, too — but in a different way to Eddie.
Arsene would give you a lot of trust and confidence and left you to get on with it. Eddie was more detailed, probably because the level of player he had was not as good as Arsenal’s.
Eddie had to coach more. Arsene didn’t really have to tell Samir Nasri or Tomas Rosicky how to play between the lines. Eddie would tell you how to do it and give you feedback — not always positive — but the way he did it made you really want to play for him.
I couldn’t recommend him highly enough.
I don’t believe we must have an English boss but he needs to understand the English game.”
JACK’S FULL VERDICT
England ace Maguire ‘will move’
Harry Maguire is certain to leave Manchester United this summer – but isn’t good enough for Arsenal.
That’s the verdict of Scotland legend Ally McCoist, despite the England centre-back’s impressive World Cup.
United boss Erik ten Hag has warned Maguire he must match his form in Qatar or he’ll stay on the fringes at club level.
And McCoist told talkSPORT: “I don’t think he may move, I’ll go one further – I think he will move.
“Clearly he will want to play. Straight away off the top of my head, I’d say he’s good enough for Spurs.
“Arsenal? Maybe not at this moment in time.”
Only one thing Messi can’t do…
Lionel Messi is so good he has even left Roy Keane gushing, writes JACK FIGG.
The Argentine legend helped secure his side’s place in the World Cup 2022 final after beating Croatia 3-0.
Messi opened the scoring from the spot and then played a major part in Julian Alvarez’s second goal, which capped off the game.
Ex-Manchester United captain Keane was on punditry duty in Qatar and left singing his praises.
He said: “It’s a pleasure to watch him live, it really is.
“Obviously, we played at a really good level but the level he’s at, at his age, even the third goal he’s doing that against some brilliant players, some really good players.
“Honestly it’s brilliant, absolutely fantastic, what a player. And do you know what? I really hope he goes on to win the World Cup.
“I think that would be the icing on the cake for the man, he’s just fantastic, consistency. Listen, we’ll be here all night talking about the awards that he’s won.”
Keane added that was was “privileged” to watch Messi at work – but named one thing the Barcelona icon could not pull off.
He said: “Saying that, I reckon he’s never jumped over a bin like I have.”
Keane was referencing the celebration he pulled off during an ITV kickabout during the World Cup. The former Irish international scored during a five-a-side game – with Micah Richards in goal – and proceeded to celebrate by leaping over a bin.
‘Genius’ Messi ‘bullied’ Josko
Lionel Messi was accused of “BULLYING” Josko Gvardiol and the rest of the Croatia defence with his wizardry.
Messi put Argentina in the lead before Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez’s doubled sealed a 3-0 route to the World Cup final.
The duo then linked up again to put the game beyond doubt with 20 minutes to go.
Alvarez finished off after a mesmerising run, in which the PSG superstar gave RB Leipzig’s Gvardiol the run around.
Messi’s twisting and turning left the defender in a heap of trouble – and fans online in awe.
One said: “Messi is a joke. He’s just scrambled Gvardiol on multiple occasions in a 10-second spell. Bullying.”
Another said: “Listen to me. Gvardiol is a good defender. Very good. Lionel Messi just destroyed him. DESTROYED HIM.”
One added: “Not Messi alone bullying Croatia’s defence.”
Another added: “Messi is just bullying Croatia out there.”
Imaan up for the Cup
Model Imaan Hammam shows her unwavering support for the surprise package of the Qatar World Cup.
She is half Moroccan and showed her allegiance by modelling Victoria’s Secret lingerie in the team’s red.
Imaan, 26, has also got behind the team by posting pictures of herself wearing the team shirt.
Morocco — the first African and Arab nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals — play France tonight.
Let’s see if they can pull a Rabat out of the hat . .
Imaan has previously credited her mum for inspiring her in her modelling career.
She said: “I don’t come from a wealthy family.
“We’ve had our struggles but she was inspirational.
“My mum has been a big inspiration for me as well.”
RESULT: Argentina 3 Croatia 0
Magical Lionel Messi hit the penalty opener and masterminded Julian Alvarez’s double as Argentina set up a World Cup final with France or Morocco.
Messi turned in the performance of the tournament to make the difference against an otherwise-competitive Croatia side.
The PSG legend, 35, has netted five and set up four of Argentina’s nine World Cup goals in Qatar.
Man Utd behind Arsenal in Felix race
Arsenal are the favourites to sign Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix, report Marca.
The Portuguese international has impressed at the World Cup and Atleti want to sell the versatile attacker.
Man Utd, PSG and Aston Villa are also in the race to sign him.
GOAL: Argentina 3 Croatia 0
Lionel Messi masterminded Julian Alvarez’s second goal on 69 minutes to all but put Argentina in the final.
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Better than Maradona’s ’86 goal?
Julian Alvarez put Argentina 2-0 up against Croatia after a brilliant run from his own half to score a goal compared to Diego Maradona’s most famous moment ever.
The sensational solo goal immediately drew comparisons with Maradona’s strike against England in 1986, despite requiring a little bit of luck.
Alvarez, 22, was back defending a Croatia set-piece during tonight’s semi-final, when Argentina managed to launch a counter-attack.
Its initial protagonist Lionel Messi was brought down, although the ball subsequently fell to Alvarez just shy of the halfway line.
From there he embarked on an amazing solo run, driving at the heart of the Croatian defence.
It appeared that Josip Juranovic had managed to tackle him, only for the ball to ricochet back into Alvarez’s path.
Left-back Borna Sosa then seemed favourite to cut out the attack, only for his scuffed clearance to also rebound back to Alvarez.
The forward then found himself through on goal, poking the ball past Dominik Livakovic to give his side a 2-0 lead five minutes before half-time.
Despite elements of good fortune, the goal was compared to Maradona’s by fans online.
One wrote: “The goal scored by Julian Alvarez is better than that of Maradona in 86.”
England must stop ‘finding way to lose’
Roy Keane slammed England for “finding a way to lose” against France, using the analogy of having “your foot on somebody’s throat” and easing off.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions crashed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stages in Qatar. England lost 2-1 to France with Harry Kane missing a late penalty.
Manchester United legend and ex-Ireland international Keane criticised Southgate’s squad for failing to prevail in a tournament again.
He said on ITV: “What England are doing in a lot of these big games, is they’re finding a way to lose.”
England were beaten by Croatia in the World Cup 2018 semi-finals. And they lost on penalties to Italy in last summer’s European Championship final.
Keane blamed mindset and pressure on England’s past failures.
Asked how to win tournaments, he said: “That’s where the players have to take control.
“I suppose it might be a lack of experience in big tournaments and big games, I know a lot of the England players have won trophies at club level.
“When we were at the game against France the other night, I describe when you’re in that position and you have your foot on somebody’s throat, you’ve got to press down. Don’t ease off.
“If you take the pressure off a good team like France, and when you’re in the quarter-finals they’re going to have quality, as soon as they eased off the got punished for it.”
H/T: Argentina 2 Croatia 0
Julian Alvarez’s breakaway goal after he won Lionel Messi’s penalty opener put Argentina 45 minutes from the World Cup final.
Croatia performed well for large spells but created litle.
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‘Ronaldo relationship with Mendes falling apart’
Cristiano Ronaldo’s relationship with long-time agent Jorge Mendes is believed to be falling apart, according to reports.
The Portuguese superstar, 37, succeeded in having his Manchester United contract ripped up last month following his explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
Following his departure from Old Trafford, he then concentrated on trying to win the World Cup with Portugal.
But their quarter-final exit at the hands of Morocco means he flies back from Qatar a free agent in search of a new club.
Ronaldo has been linked with big offers from Saudi Arabian sides Al Hilal and Al-Nassr.
But it remains to be seen whether he will take up those offers – with European interest thought to be few and far between.
And according to AS, clubs are now bypassing Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, and speaking to the player himself.
Mendes, 56, has represented Ronaldo ever since he left Sporting Lisbon to join Man Utd in 2003.
But now he is thought to be less involved in the Real Madrid legend’s dealings.
GOAL: Argentina 1 Croatia 0
Lionel Messi smashed home a penalty opener.
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For whom the belle Knolls
The World Cup’s hottest fan wowed match goers as she arrived at Croatia vs Argentina this evening.
Stunning Ivana Knoll has attended all of her beloved Croatia’s matches during the 2022 World Cup, delighting fellow fans in the process.
After Croatia’s shock victory over Brazil last Friday, Ivana was never going to miss out on tonight’s semi-final against Argentina.
Lionel Messi and Co are being backed by at least 40,000 travelling Argentinians, desperate for their side to win the World Cup.
But even these passionate opposition supporters were thrilled to get a glimpse of Ivana before the match.
Fans in Argentina shirts were spotted grabbing selfies with the Croatia mega-fan in the stands. And she also posed for pictures with her own side’s supporters too.
Ivana, 30, was already a renowned model in Croatia going into the tournament. But her popularity has soared even further, and she now boasts 2.5million Instagram followers, who have been following her journey throughout the tournament.
As the founder and owner of clothing brand “wearknolldoll”, the model has been showing off her outfits at the World Cup.
LATEST: Argentina 0 Croatia 0
Argentina have begun slightly on top but it’s a cagy opening.
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ARGENTINA: Emiliano Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez.
CROATIA: Dominik Livakovic, Ivan Perisic, Dejan Lovren, Mateo Kovacic, Andrej Kramaric, Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mario Pasalic, Borna Sosa, Josko Gvardiol, Josip Juranovic.
Arteta delighted by White return
Mikel Arteta has broken his silence on Ben White’s England World Cup exit.
That’s after the Arsenal star returned to club action in Tuesday’s friendly win over AC Milan.
White, 25, was part of Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions squad for their adventure in Qatar. But the centre-back left prior to their last-16 win over Senegal due to “personal reasons.”
And stunning reports claimed White went home after being involved in a training ground bust-up with assistant boss Steve Holland.
White has since linked up with Arsenal for the remainder of their Dubai training camp and even broke his silence over the issue yesterday.
Arteta said: “Very pleased [to have him back]. Everybody has been giving him a lot of support and love.
“We know the reasons he had to leave the camp. We are delighted to have him back and he looked in really good shape.
“I’ve been having conversations with all the players at the World Cup.
“Not only with Ben but with all the players to try to give support when somebody needs it.”
TEAM NEWS : Argentina vs Croatia, ko 7pm
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has ditched his five-man defence – but surprised many by opting for 4-4-2 rather than three up front.
That means only Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi up front, with Juventus anchorman Leandro Paredes coming into midfield.
ARGENTINA: Emiliano Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez.
Subs: Franco Armani, Juan Foyth, German Pezzella, Angel Di Maria, Geronimo Rulli, Exequiel Palacios, Angel Correa, Thiago Almada, Guido Rodriguez, Paulo Dybala, Lautaro Martinez, Lisandro Martinez.
CROATIA: Dominik Livakovic, Ivan Perisic, Dejan Lovren, Mateo Kovacic, Andrej Kramaric, Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mario Pasalic, Borna Sosa, Josko Gvardiol, Josip Juranovic.
Subs: Ivo Grbic, Ivica Ivusic, Josip Stanisic, Borna Barisic, Martin Erlic, Lovro Majer, Nikola Vlasic, Marko Livaja, Bruno Petkovic, Ante Budimir, Mislav Orsic, Domagoj Vida, Josip Sutalo, Luka Sucic, Kristijan Jakic.
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Fans claim Fifa ‘trolling Kane’ with tweet gaffe
Fifa were left with egg on their face after accidentally tweeting an advertisement showing a World Cup semi-final between England and USA.
Argentina take on Croatia for a place in the final in Qatar on Tuesday night.
On the other side of the draw, defending champions France will take on Morocco on Wednesday.
And while the two last-four clashes were correct on Fifa’s official website, the tweet football’s governing body sent out showed an image of England vs USA – with Harry Kane and Christian Pulisic plastered over it.
Alongside it, they added the caption: “A spot in the final awaits! You won’t want to miss tonight’s action!”
England were knocked out in the quarter-finals by France, while USA exited in the last-16 after losing to Holland.
It was clearly a picture Fifa did not realise would show up when they sent out the link. And the tweet was swiftly deleted a few minutes after being posted.
But not before some social media users spotted the blatant mistake and reacted to the mishap. One person said: “Are you trolling Kane?”
Wenger secret ‘role’ for Morocco
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta may have secretly helped develop the blueprint to Morocco’s stunning World Cup run to the semi-finals.
Morocco manager Walid Regragui – managing at native side Wydad AC at the time – attended the Spaniard’s 2021 masterclass via zoom on the Gunners’ 2020 FA Cup win.
In that call, Arteta broke down Arsenal’s 2-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City and the behind-closed-doors 2-1 final win over Chelsea.
Regragui, 47, listened with intent and was clearly taking notes, as just a year later he is managing in a World Cup semi-final.
Morocco are the Qatar World Cup’s dark horses, and topped a group consisting of 2018 finalists and fellow semi-finalists, Croatia, as well as Belgium’s golden generation and an impressive Canada side.
The North African side then slayed 2010 winners Spain 3-0 on penalties after drawing 0-0 in normal time.
Portugal came up next in the quarters and Morocco pulled off an unlikely 1-0 win to become the first African country to reach the last four of the competition, going one further than Cameroon 1990, Senegal 2002 and Ghana 2010.
Impressively, Morocco have conceded just one goal in the winter tournament and it didn’t even come from an opposition player.
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