Brazilian legend Ronaldinho was spotted clapping his hands in the stands as Argentina faced Croatia in the FIFA World Cup 2022 semifinal on Wednesday.
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On Tuesday, as he represented Argentina at the World Cup for the 25th time, Lionel Messi tied the record for most appearances at the event.
Germany’s Lothar Matthäus had the previous undisputed record.
Argentina will play in either the final on Sunday or the third-place playoff on Saturday, giving Messi, who is competing in his fifth and presumably final World Cup, a chance to surpass the mark.
Argentina and Croatia have played each other five times during the course of their 28-year rivalry, with each team winning two games and drawing one. Their first encounter was in a goalless international friendly in 1994.
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The first World Cup match between the two teams saw Argentina win, while Croatia responded in 2018 In their most recent meeting, the Croats triumphed decisively, defeating Argentina 3-0 in the World Cup group stages of 2018.
In Qatar, Messi has already accomplished a few other World Cup landmarks.
During the group stage, he overtook Diego Maradona as the Argentina player with the most World Cup appearances. He also joined Gabriel Batistuta in having 10 goals in the competition when he converted a penalty against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.
The final test in Morocco’s extraordinary, historic World Cup run is about to begin. The first World Cup semifinalist from Africa will face the reigning champions France and forward Kylian Mbappé, who is the face of a new generation of soccer stars emerging from the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo era.
By defeating second-placed Belgium in the group stage and then taking out European powerhouses Spain and Portugal in the elimination round to advance to the semifinals, Morocco has surpassed all expectations in Qatar. No African or Arab country has ever advanced to this point.
It is one of the biggest triumphs in the 92-year history of the World Cup, and Morocco is not through yet.
