FIFA World Cup 2022: Is Lionel Messi playing for Argentina vs Croatia? Here's an update

Argentina might find itself in a major crisis heading into the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 semifinal match against Croatia, as football great Lionel Messi might face a ban for the game. The world football governing body FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings on the Argentinan skipper for his behavior towards referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz during the quarterfinal match against the Netherlands. Meanwhile, FIFA will reveal its verdict on Tuesday, before Argentina vs Croatia, which gets underway at 12:30 AM on Wednesday.

The high-octane quarterfinal clash between Netherlands and Argentina witnessed several discipline-related moments as players and coaching staff were seen losing their cool. Alongside several verbal clashes, physical brawls broke out between players from both sides after the match. Interestingly, referee Lahoz was seen flashing the yellow card, a total of 16 times.

Will Lionel Messi be banned from Argentina vs Croatia?

FIFA decided to open disciplinary proceedings against the Argentine Federation, and the players involved in the confrontations after the match. FIFA claimed that the players breached its code of conduct during the quarter-final clash. It is pertinent to mention that if found guilty, the 35-year-old will be barred from playing in the semifinal match against Croatia.

Shedding light on the disciplinary proceedings in a statement, FIFA put out a statement, that read, “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Argentinian Football Association due to potential breaches of articles 12 (Misconduct of players and officials) and 16 (Order and security at matches) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code during the Netherlands vs Argentina FIFA World Cup match”,

Here’s what Lionel Messi said about the referee after Argentina vs Netherlands

After Argentina’s triumph over Netherlands, Messi reportedly lashed out at the referee and said, “We didn't have a great game, and then the referee sent it to extra time. He was always against us. In the last play, it was not a foul. FIFA has to review that, it can't give a referee like that a match of this importance, when they're not up to the task."

The Argentina vs Netherlands, World Cup quarterfinal game ended in a 2-2 draw after the final whistle, as the game went into the penalty shootout. Nahuel Molina scored the opening goal of the match for Argentina, before Messi doubled the lead with a 73rd minute penalty goal. While Wout Weghorst scored both goals for the Dutch side, Argentina advanced into the semis with a 4-3 win in the penalty shootout.