Argentina v Croatia: Semi Final - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Getty Images

Ten years ago, Argentina forward Julian Alvarez was a 12-year-old dreaming of playing in the World Cup alongside his idol Lionel Messi. On Tuesday, he and Messi scored the goals that earned Argentina a ticket to the 2022 World Cup final.

"Messi has been my idol since I was a child," Alvarez said, according to his club Man City's official website. "He's my family's idol, the idol of my brothers too. So, Messi. Messi is a hero for me. Playing for my country is a dream come true. I dreamed as a child to play in the national team with Messi. 

"To have achieved this at the age of 22 obviously makes me feel very proud, happy, and I have to keep going for more success."

A photo of Messi and 12-year-old Alvarez has been circulating on social media, as well as a video in which Alvarez tells a reporter about his dream.

Argentina defeated Croatia 3-0 on Tuesday's semifinal round. During the 32nd minute, Alvarez was looking to score the first goal of the match but was fouled by goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic. Argentina was awarded a penalty, and Messi converted for a 1-0 lead. That became his 11th goal in World Cup competition, which helped him overtake Gabriel Batistuta as the all-time World Cup leading scorer for Argentina.

Alvarez got his first goal of the night five minutes later after receiving the ball from Messi in his own half. He sprinted to the net and got past three defenders and the goalkeeper for the 2-0 advantage before halftime. 

The last goal came in the 69th minute as Messi was getting close to the box and defenders were starting to surround him. He made the pass to Alvarez, who found the perfect opening and buried the ball in the bottom left corner. Alvarez has now scored four goals in his first World Cup, becoming only the second Argentinian to score four goals at a single edition of the World Cup at the age 22 or younger -- the first one being Gonzalo Higuaín, who scored four goals in 2010. At the age of 22, Messi only had one World Cup goal. 

Messi is playing in his fifth World Cup, and the Argentina veteran has confirmed that it will likely be his last. 

 "Yes. Surely yes. There's a lot of years until the next one and I don't think I have it in me and finishing like this is best," he said after the game against Croatia. "[I feel] a lot of happiness to be able to achieve this. To finish my World Cup career playing my last game in a final. Everything I've lived in this World Cup, what people experienced and how much the people back in Argentina are enjoying it all is very emotional."