Argentina emerged overwhelming 3-0 victors against Croatia in the first semi-final at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday night, but it was their mercurial skipper Lionel Messi, who emerged an outright winner in the debate of who’s the greatest of them all.

Messi first scored off the penalty spot (34th minute) where he beat an in-form Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic comfortably to shatter Gabriel Batistuta’s long-standing record and become Argentina’s all-time leading goal scorer (11) at World Cups. Earlier, Messi had also matched German legend Lothar Matthaus’s record of 25 World Cup appearances. Argentina’s second goal saw Julian Alvarez sprint from the half-line towards the Croatian goal, almost lose the ball to defender Borna Sosa before accidentally getting it back to finish with a tap in (39th minute). The third goal however, is what will be talked about for long, and not because it saw Alvarez, 22, become the youngest player to equal legendary Brazilian Pele’s (17) record of scoring twice in a World Cup semi-final or final, but because of the sheer build up that led to it.