Julian Alvarez is now the youngest player to score twice in a World Cup semi-final or final since the legendary Pele.
The 22-year-old Manchester City striker scored Argentina's second and third goals as they pulled off a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Croatia on Tuesday, inspired by none other than Lionel Messi. Alvarez and his superstar teammate will now return to the Lusail Stadium for Sunday's grand final, facing either holders France or underdogs Morocco.
But regardless of the outcome, the ex- River Plate prodigy will have fond memories to look back on once the tournament ends. That's because, at 22 years and 316 days old, Alvarez became the youngest player to bag two goals in a World Cup semi-final or final in the past 64 years.
Back in 1958 when the tournament was held in Sweden, a 17-year-old Pele set the world alight by netting a hat-trick for Brazil in their 5-2 win semi-final win against France. Five days later, the Brazilian hotshot bagged a brace as the Selecao beat the hosts in the final, again recording a 5-2 victory.
To this day, Pele remains the only player to score in a men or women's World Cup before turning 18. Now 82, the three-time winner of the tournament is tackling health issues after having a tumour removed from his colon in September 2021. Pele found himself back in hospital last month due to "general swelling" and cardiac issues.
The latest news is that the former Santos hero is improving in Sao Paulo and will hope to watch the rest of this year's World Cup. Only three nations now have a shot at glory, with France and Morocco set to thrash it out on Wednesday.
As for Argentina, they can already start preparing for the final and captain Messi is desperate to avenge the heartache of 2014, when the Albiceleste lost to 1-0 to Germany in extra-time. On what the win against Croatia meant to him, Messi said: "To see these people, the family thought the World Cup was something incredible. And we are where we wanted to be.
"We started off losing but we asked the people to stay confident with us because we knew. T his group is crazy, we did it. It makes me think of my family. It's the best for me. We had tough times but we got the chance to experience something spectacular tonight."
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Argentina's run to the final is made even more remarkable given they stunningly lost their opening game to Saudi Arabia, who were tipped to be the whipping boys of Group C. "I would say the first match was a hard blow for all of us after being unbeaten for 26 matches," the Paris Saint-Germain forward went on to say.
"We didn't think we would lose against Saudi Arabia so to start that way was an acid test for our squad but we have proved how strong we are. It has been very difficult because every game has been a final for us - there has been a mental load. But we've played five finals and luckily won them all. I hope we can win the sixth one."
