Messi's Final Chapter

For the past 15 years, when you think of soccer you probably think of Lionel Messi. He is one of the best players to ever step on the pitch, and his accolades obviously back it up. Just look at some of these numbers 🏆

• 790 career goals

• Most goal in La Liga (474)

• 7x Ballon d'Or winner

• 10 league titles with Barcelona

Missing from this list is obviously a World Cup title. Argentina has made it past the group stage in all five of Messi's WC appearances, with the best result being a second place finish back in 2014, losing 1-0 to Germany (who has Messi's number) 🇩🇪

• 2006: lost to Germany in Quarterfinals

• 2010: lost to Germany in Quarterfinals

• 2014: lost to Germany in the Finals

• 2018: lost to France in Round-of-16

• 2022: Semi-Finals vs. Croatia today

I have a feeling the majority of sports fans are rooting for Messi & Argentina to win this year's World Cup, ending his International career in style. Croatia has proven to be a giant killer over the past two tournaments, take a look at today's lines 👇

Argentina vs. Croatia Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Odds To Advance: Argentina -270 (bet $270, win $100), Croatia +210 (bet $100, win $210)

• Over/Under: 2.5 Goals

• When: 2PM EST on FOX

Giant Killers

Luka Mordric, Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic and Dominik Livakovic. Outside of Modric, who won the Ballon d'Or in 2018, most of these players aren't your typical household names. However, they've all played together for almost a decade, and have the stones to take on the world's best 🇭🇷

In 2018, Croatia won their group (over Argentina) and proceeded to gut out three straight extra time wins in Russia, a trend that has carried over four years later in Qatar. Do they have one more spoiler in them? Peep their run over the past two World Cups 👇

• 2018: beat Denmark in penalties

• 2018: beat Russia in penalties

• 2018: beat England in extra time

• 2018: lost to France in the Finals

• 2022: beat Japan in penalties

• 2022: beat Brazil in penalties

As you can see, the last thing you want is to do get into a shootout with Croatia. While Argentina just recently squeaked by the Netherlands in PKs, I have a feeling Messi takes care of business before it gets to that point 🐐

This game should be really fun, and while we all like goals, I'm not sure if we're going to see too many. Three games left in the World Cup, move some meetings around and make sure you don't miss this one ⚽️

For My Parlay Gurus

I'm rooting for Messi, the guy deserves a World Cup win and he obviously won't have another chance considering he's 35-years-old. Soccer parlays are hard, but I'm going with Argentina to advance and Messi to score. He has the best odds to net one, but it's still a reach. Check it out 👇

• Argentina To Advance vs. Croatia: -270

• Lionel Messi Anytime Goal Scorer: +350

$100 on this bet would win you $517 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

Want more betting content from Overtime? Check out Even The Odds on Twitter 🤑Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Join thousands of other informed subscribers

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Many will enter, only some will win. Giveaway ends 12 hours after the completion of the final game references within the giveaway. The winner will be notified via the email address used to enter. Restrictions apply. See the General Conditions and Releases sections of Overtime's Terms of Use at https://overtime.tv/terms for additional giveaway terms©2022 Overtime Sports, Inc. All rights reserved.