Argentina vs Croatia: Lionel Messi will win World Cup this time, says Zlatan Ibrahimovic

AC Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has backed Lionel Messi to lift the World Cup trophy with Argentina in the underway tournament in Qatar.

Messi-led Argentina are set to face off against Croatia in the semi-final of the 2022 World Cup on Tuesday (00.30, Wednesday IST). The Argentinian skipper, who is yet to win the coveted trophy with Argentina, confirmed that this would be his final World Cup, and his former FC Barcelona teammate Ibrahimovic said he is confident that the former would win the title this year.

Messi and Ibrahimovic played together at Barcelona for a season in 2009-10 and which is why the Swedish striker is aware of how important the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is. In five games in the 2022 World Cup, Messi has netted four goals and is the joint-second leading scorer in the tournament.

"I think it's already written who will win, and you know who I mean. I think Messi will lift the trophy, it's already written," Ibrahimovic said.

The current AC Milan player also spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo's recent controversial exit from Manchester United.

"His exiting United, I think when things happen, we will never know the true story. They say what they want to say, he says what he needs to say to protect himself, then you have the coach that says these things to protect himself. Then the club says things – not like me, I will tell you how it really happened. But we are all different. Everybody is careful about their image. For me, the perfect image is being yourself. The true story we will not know my friend," added Ibrahimovic.

When the winter window opens on Jan. 1, Ronaldo will be allowed to join any club on a free transfer for the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign. Ronaldo-led Portugal were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup following a shock 1-0 quarters defeat at the hands of Morocco, who are now set to take on defending champions France in the semi-final.

Qatar World Cup: I would like Leo Messi to win, says Luis Enrique

Meanwhile, Messi's former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique also said that he wanted the star forward to win the World Cup trophy this time.

"I would like Leo Messi to win the World Cup, because of what he means to football," said Enrique.

Enrique stepped down as Spain's head coach following their elimination from the World Cup. Spain lost on penalties to Morocco in the Round of 16.

Ahead of the FIFA World Cup, Enrique was on his Twitch channel when Enrique claimed he wanted Messi to lift the trophy if it was not for his side, Spain.

"If Spain doesn't win the World Cup, I would like Argentina to win it because of Messi. It would be unfair for Messi to retire without winning a World Cup," Enrique had said.

However, back then Enrique had admitted that neither Spain nor Argentina were favourties to win the tournament and had predicted Brazil and England, both of whom have exited the FIFA World Cup, and defending champions France as the ones to make it to the final.

"Whenever we talk about candidates, we always talk about the same teams. If I have to put some above others I think Brazil, France, and England are a little bit above the rest. But the World Cup is so difficult and so complicated that anything can happen. We are very excited. We have a very nice group that is very eager, but we think about going little by little," added Enrique.

The second semi-final of the 2022 World Cup is between France and Morocco on Wednesday (00.30, Thursday IST).