Aston Villa's Emi Martinez ready to fight for victory in World Cup final

Argentina are through to the sixth final in their history thanks to a Lionel Messi-inspired triumph against 2018 runners-up Croatia in Tuesday’s comfortable 3-0 win at Lusail Stadium.

Sunday’s showpiece will be back at that cavernous arena, where two-time champions Argentina kicked off the tournament with one of the most humiliating results in their history.

The 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia sent shockwaves across the footballing world and hardened the resolved of a group of players who are now just one match away from being crowned world champions.

“I can’t believe it,” Villa and Argentina goalkeeper Martinez said. “I just can’t believe it, mate.

“We lost the first game. All of sudden it’s everything upside down. People doubting us. Obviously we lost the unbeaten run of 36 games.

“Against Mexico the first half was a little bit sloppy. Everyone wanted us to lose, so it’s us against the rest of the world. I am so glad that this 26 (man) group of players are all fighters and we’ve got 45 million Argentinians all behind us.

“It’s just amazing. We feel the crowd on the streets – they’re all full of Argentinians. Every time we play we’re at home. We feel like we’re at home.

“There’s 40,000, 50,000 Argentinians in every ground. We’re so happy to have them.”

Argentina fans have outnumbered any other nations’ support in Qatar, where the chance to see Messi in his fifth and likely final World Cup has been a huge pull.

The 35-year-old produced a magical display against Croatia on Tuesday, after which Martinez downplayed any suggestions that the captain was dealing with a groin complaint.

“No, no, obviously we played 120 minutes against Holland,” the shot-stopper said. “It was a hard game for him, but you can see he wants to finish every game. Physically he’s really good and you can see, man of the match every game.”