World Cup 2022: Croatia Aims to End Lionel Messi’s World Cup Dream

• Croatia wants to end Lionel Messi’s lifelong dream of winning the coveted World Cup
• The Europeans tackle the South Americans in the semi-finals at the Lusail Stadium
• Messi is yet to win the Mundial in his career and feels Qatar 2022 might be his last

Croatia has made it their mission to end Lionel Messi’s lifelong dream of winning the FIFA World Cup, ahead of their semi-final clash with Argentina.

The Vatreni are bidding to make it to the final for the second tournament in a row, after losing in the 2018 tournament final in a 4-1 defeat to France.

However, Messi and Argentina stand in the way of the Croats, as the veteran bids to win the only trophy that has eluded him in his illustrious football career, Aljazeera reports.

Messi had previously lost a World Cup final after leading Argentina to the last match in 2014, where La Albiceleste lost 1-0 to Germany.

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Croatia had previously put an end to the World Cup dreams of Neymar, when they eliminated Brazil in the quarter-finals. Now they now want to do the same to Messi and his country.

Modric on facing Lionel Messi

Meanwhile, Croatia captain, Luka Modric has hailed Messi and Argentina, but added that La Albiceleste are not about just one player, Sportskeeda reports.

Modric revealed that it will be difficult to stop the 35-year-old in their World Cup semi-final clash, insisting the striker is the team's best player so far.

Modric has faced Messi 26 times, winning 12, losing on nine occasions, and drawing five of the outings, as they prepare for the winner-takes-all clash at the Lusail Stadium.

Modric compares Croatia to Real

Earlier, Sports Brief reported on Modric stating Croatia shares DNA with Spanish giants Real Madrid, following the Europeans' amazing World Cup run in Qatar.

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The Vatreni are bidding to reach a successive World Cup final after impressive knockout victories against Japan and Brazil via penalties, in the round of 16 and quarter-finals respectively.

Modric, who has won five UEFA Champions League trophies with Real Madrid, disclosed that there are similarities in the mentalities between Croatia and the La Liga champions.