Argentina will play Australia on Saturday for a place in the quarterfinals. Messi was in his 22nd World Cup game and 999th for club and country.
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Argentina and Lionel Messi dominated Poland 2-0 on Wednesday at the World Cup to win Group C and advance to the last 16 at Stadium 974 in Qatar. Alexis MacAllister and Julian Alvarez scored second-half goals for Argentina, who were stunned by Saudi Arabia in their group opener, to keep their quest for a first World Cup victory since 1986 alive. “It’s quite emotional for me and the entire squad.” Mac Allister told reporters, “It’s a dream come true.” “I’m so proud that I made my debut with this team. And now he’s scored in a World Cup. I’m overjoyed. “[After Messi’s missed penalty], we tried to stay positive and cool.” We were not depressed. We tried to be upbeat. Fortunately, we were able to win and advance.”
Despite being outplayed for the entire 90 minutes, Poland advanced to the knockout round in second place thanks to a better goal difference than Mexico and will face Group D winners France on Sunday. Argentina will play Australia on Saturday for a place in the quarterfinals. Messi was in his 22nd World Cup game – and 999th for club and country – breaking a tie with Diego Maradona for the most by an Argentine in the world’s greatest competition. Argentina dominated the first 45 minutes but had nothing to show for it, with the halftime score 0-0. Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny saved a Messi penalty awarded by VAR.
Szczesny had been kept busy the whole half as Poland’s defence was repeatedly penetrated, but the Juventus goalkeeper remained firm to deny the Argentines, who became more confident with each attack. He first denied Alvarez, who broke through the offside trap, before teeing up Angel Di Maria, who attempted to score immediately from a corner kick. Argentina took the lead shortly after the restart when Brighton striker Mac Allister diverted a Nahuel Molina cross with a first-time shot that beat Szczesny.
Alvarez, a Manchester City teenager, made his international debut midway through the second half, picking up a pass from Enzo Fernandez in the penalty area and lashing a shot past Szczesny to all but secure the three points. With Poland’s place in the round of 16 potentially being decided by a fair play (yellow and red card accumulation) tiebreaker with Mexico, Poland coach Czeslaw Michniewicz had instructed his players to avoid unnecessary bookings as the match progressed.
“I didn’t tell players to take their foot off the ball, but I did tell them to avoid stupid bookings,” Michniewicz said during a press conference. “We even discussed the yellow cards for those on the bench, because we only learned before the game, after the meeting with the delegate, that cards awarded to bench players do not count for the fair play classification.” “We were terrified that one of the players or the coach might jump out and get arrested, and so we might not be able to continue.” However, I also requested that we not irritate them, yank their clothes, or dispute with the referee.”
