Internationals – Romero reaches World Cup final, heartbreak for Perisic

Cristian Romero is heading for the World Cup final after helping Argentina to a 3-0 win over Ivan Perisic’s Croatia in Qatar on Tuesday evening.

Both Cristian and Ivan completed the full 90 minutes on opposite sides of the semi-final clash at Lusail Stadium, but it was defender ‘Cuti’ who was celebrating at the end of the night as Argentina claimed a win and a clean sheet on their way to Sunday’s showpiece match at the same venue.

Ivan, who has started every one of Croatia’s games at the tournament in a left-sided attacking role, certainly brought his shooting boots on the night, going close in the first half with an effort that flew behind – Croatia were adamant they should have had a corner, but a goal-kick was given, Argentina quickly attacked and won the penalty from which Lionel Messi opened the scoring.

Julian Alvarez subsequently added the second and third for Argentina, with Ivan having a couple more near-misses in the second half.

In the end, it was Cuti’s night, with Hugo Lloris bidding to join him in the final when France take on Morocco in the second semi-final on Wednesday evening (7pm UK).

Ivan isn’t heading home yet, though, with Croatia set for one last outing in the third-place play-off against the losers of Wednesday’s semi-final on Saturday (3pm UK).