'Now is all' for Messi and Argentina as shot at World Cup glory beckons

"Now is all."

Oddly enough, that's Qatar 2022's motto. The slogan can be seen on banners at every Doha-area stadium and dangling from the ceiling of the massive media hub at the Qatar National Convention Centre. Nobody appears to know who exactly created it or what it means.

Possibly no one other than Lionel Messi. Due to the fact that Lionel Messi, now 35 years old, is participating in his last World Cup, he is playing as if this game is his last. Perhaps the experts in marketing had a point all along.

Messi and Argentina have advanced to the championship match. At Lusail Stadium, they won 3-0 over Croatia, who had previously eliminated the possibility of an all-South American semi-final by defeating Brazil on penalties.

To say Argentina have been completely convincing in Qatar would be an exaggeration, but Tuesday's performance was easily their best of the tournament.

Of course, the focus is always on Messi. Yes, even when it's not about him.

Messi opened the scoring with a penalty in the 34th minute, and Julian Alvarez scored Argentina's second with a plodding run through on goal that ended with the Croatian defence collapsing one by one in comical fashion before the Manchester City striker finally prodded home.

Despite starting out with a loss to Saudi Arabia in Group C, Argentina's greatest strength is that everything is served to Messi. Argentina entered the tournament on a 36-match unbeaten run and as Copa America champions. Not in the way that Portugal, for example, has had to feed Cristiano Ronaldo's goal-hunger for years, but in the sense that Lionel Scaloni's team knows they can only win if they play through the genius wearing jersey number 10.

And it's not like they got everything they wanted. As Scaloni stated in his pregame press conference, Argentina had to fight for each of their previous victories at this tournament. Since their loss to Saudi Arabia, all of Argentina's matches had been considered must-wins. It was the same story on Tuesday.

Croatia beat La Albiceleste 3-0 in Russia 2018, and they dominated the first half despite not posing much of a threat. In fact, in the first 20 minutes, the only shot on goal was a stray header by Dejan Lovren.

Messi, whose pregame preparation mainly involved dead-ball work and some light jogging, had only five touches in the first 10 minutes, four of which were passes (he completed all of them, of course).

When Messi felt his left thigh and then stretched it out, the bench for Scaloni must have gotten worried. When he was caught on the ball and Mateo Kovacic led a counterattack that led to a free-kick for Croatia, his unease could have only increased.

Argentina, however, had Messi right where they wanted him after only seven minutes. On the spot, with feet planted firmly on the ball. With just one lofted ball, Alvarez's superb play had drawn a reckless tackle from Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.

Despite his reputation as a penalty shootout hero, Livakovic had no chance against this incredible left-footed penalty kick. In the end, practising with no movement was beneficial.

Messi's goal made him his country's all-time World Cup scorer, surpassing Gabriel Batistuta, who was present to witness it. He is also the first player from Argentina to score in three different knockout rounds at a World Cup. Before this tournament, he had never scored a single goal in knockout matches during a single tournament.

Five minutes later, Alvarez scored through a defence that opened up like the Red Sea to deliver the final blow to Croatia's hopes. Messi did not get credit for an assist because Alvarez only touched the ball with his toe.

The youthful exuberance of Alvarez, who has now scored in six of his eight starts for Argentina, is one of the foundations Scaloni is laying to help Messi, who was toying with the Croatian defence by halftime.

Messi almost had a second early in the second half after exchanging passes with fellow up-and-comer Enzo Fernandez of Argentina. However, a good save by Livakovic prevented the goal.

Messi still had work to do, though. Some pressure was being applied by Croatia, so the game was far from over. That is, until Messi made up his mind with 21 seconds to go.

Despite being regarded as one of the best defenders at the tournament and receiving interest from Europe's top clubs, 20-year-old Josko Gvardiol was easily manipulated by the Argentine captain, who calmly set up the game-winning goal for Alvarez.

Messi now has the most goal involvements in Qatar, with eight. He's tied for the lead in scoring with Kylian Mbappe, and his assist gave him as many points at the World Cup as Diego Maradona, the other legendary Argentine number 10.

Overall, his 19 goal involvements at the World Cup are tied for the most by any player in the 56 years for which statistics are available. He also holds the record as the only player in the tournament to score and assist in four different games. He will surpass Pele as the player with the most World Cup appearances if he plays in the championship game.

It has been 36 and a half years since Maradona dragged Argentina to glory in Mexico, but now Messi has the chance to do the same and finally claim the only trophy missing from his vast collection.

Maradona's brilliance cannot be discounted, of course, but it's worth noting that he was 25, 10 years younger than Messi is now, when he won Argentina their second and most recent World Cup.

Argentina have finished runners-up twice since then, most recently to Germany in 2014, when Messi was in his prime.

Now, they'll face France or Morocco on Sunday, back in Lusail.

Now, Messi will have his second and final shot at becoming a world champion.

Now, of course, is all.