LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — The Latest from the World Cup semifinal match between Argentina and Croatia:
___
Argentina plays Croatia on Tuesday in the first World Cup semifinal match, and the winner will face either defending champion France or Morocco in Sunday’s final at Lusail Stadium.
Lionel Messi and Luka Modric have led Argentina and Croatia to the final four with stellar performances, and both are looking to cap their careers with a World Cup title.
Messi and Argentina lost in the 2014 final to Germany, and Modric and Croatia lost in the 2018 final to France.
___
Croatia has already ended Neymar’s World Cup by beating Brazil in the quarterfinals. Now it hopes to do the same to Lionel Messi in the semifinals on Tuesday.
___
It’s more than Luka Modric in Croatia.
The Real Madrid midfielder isn’t the only player for the big occasion in the Croatia squad. Ivan Perišić is another of the team’s veterans at the age of 33 and has scored more goals at major tournaments than any other Croatian.
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
