A little bit of luck and a whole lot of Lionel Messi.

That sums up Argentina’s stellar 3-0 win over Croatia in the World Cup semi-final played last night.

Destiny seemed to be colluding with Argentina as they went into the break with a 2-0 lead, both goals having been touched with an element of good fortune.

Croatia had looked the better, more composed and more confident side, with Mateo Kovačić especially enjoying penetrating runs through the midfield.

Argentina were frustrated and started pushing forward more, to good effect.

The first goal came just after the half-hour mark from a rare defensive error that saw Julian Alvarez bearing down on goal.

The ball wasn’t cleared and Alvarez got control of the ball and ran into keeper Dominik Livaković, who was deemed to have committed a foul.

A harsh penalty was given and taken by Messi, who slammed it into the top right before this World Cup’s finest keeper could get close.

Within minutes, Argentina had a second goal, this time by a perseverant Alvarez, who benefitted from the ball twice bouncing off defenders and landing back in his path, to stroke it past the luckless Livaković.

They almost scored another off a corner, but Livaković made an amazing reactive save to prevent the ball from entering the bottom corner.

Croatia had no option but to attack full steam in the second half, always at the risk of being caught on the counter-attack.

They had a fairly good chance from a corner in the 61st minute, but Dejan Lovren couldn’t get a decent enough touch. They were doing a lot of pressing, but the magic of maestro Messi was about to squash whatever faint hopes Croatia had of making up the two-goal deficit.

He somehow found space against the touchline where there was none and set off on a dancing dribble, beating two defenders, including the best centre-back at the tournament, Joško Gvardiol – twice! Messi then unselfishly put the ball on a plate for Alvarez to bag his brace, making it 3-0.

Croatia did have a chance to get a consolation goal, but Lovren again failed to get proper contact on a good corner.

No arguments: The better team on the night was clearly Argentina, who neutralised Luka Modrić, with Nicolás Tagliafico playing a superb game at the back, breaking up countless Croatian attacks.

Perhaps, after two consecutive games that went into extra time and penalties, the legs and the luck had run out for Croatia.

Messi, now the joint top goal-scorer at this year’s tournament, waits with Argentina to see who they will meet in Sunday’s final: Morocco or France.

After this resounding performance, they’ll be more than ready for either.