In their third and final Group C match of the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Lionel Messi’s Argentina lined up against Robert Lewandowski’s Poland. The match that was played at Stadium 974 was a must-win for the South American giants if they wanted to confirm a place in the Round of 16. A draw also would have kicked them out. Recognizing the significance of the game, Argentina put on a spirited performance to keep Poland at bay and win the match 2-0.
With a second straight 2-0 win in Group C, Argentina managed to secure a first-place finish in their group as well and will now face Group D runners-up Australia in their Round of 16 match, which will take place on Saturday (Sunday IST) at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.
In their game against Poland, Argentina scored both goals in the second half. Alexis MacAllister of Brighton opened the scoring seconds after the restart, and another Argentine who plays in the Premier League finds his name on the scoresheet in the 67th minute. Manchester City’s forward Julian Alvarez scored the second and final goal of the game for his side.
But Argentina would have won by a bigger margin had Messi converted the penalty that he earned in the 36th minute of the game. Argentina captain Messi was fouled by Poland’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny as he attempted to head home a ball fed in by Alvarez.
Szczesny’s hands caught Messi on the face, and after consulting the VAR, Danny Makkelie awarded a spot kick to Messi. But his effort was saved by the Juventus stopper, who correctly judged Messi’s move and denied him by using his single hand.
Messi tried to score on his right, and Szczesny got an idea about it, and he jumped to that end to keep the scores level. It was Messi’s second failed spot kick in World Cup history. In the 2018 World Cup as well, Messi’s penalty was saved by the Iceland goalkeeper.
