Argentina advanced to the knockout stages of the World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Poland in their final Group C match last night even though skipper Lionel Messi saw a first half penalty saved.
Argentina’s victory moved the South American side to the top of the group and they will face Australia in the last-16 while second-placed Poland take on reigning champions France.
Argentina took the lead just one minute into the second half when Alexis Mac Allister got on the end of Nahuel Molina’s cross and, despite making weak contact, he saw his shot creep over the line with Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny beaten.
The goal was just reward for Argentina who had dominated possession while Poland barely managed to get out of their own half.
The second goal was the result of some patient buildup where Argentina knocked the ball around before Enzo Fernandez unlocked the defence with a through-ball for Julian Alvarez, who found space in the box and smashed it into the top corner.
Earlier, Poland were up in arms when Argentina were awarded a controversial penalty after a VAR check for a foul on Messi when Szczesny’s glove brushed his face as the Paris St Germain forward rose up for a header at the far post.
But Szczesny was up to the task and despite the thousands of Argentina fans raising the decibel levels inside the arena, he kept his composure and guessed correctly, diving to his left and using one hand to swat aside Messi’s effort from the spot.
Szczesny had been kept busy the entire half with the Poland defence breached time and again but the Juventus keeper stood firm to deny the Argentines who grew more confident with every attack.
He first denied Alvarez when the Manchester City forward broke through the offside trap before he tipped Angel Di Maria’s cross over the bar when his Juve team mate attempted to score directly from a corner kick.
But he could do nothing but scramble when Mac Allister took his shot even before Poland could settle down after the restart while Alvarez’s shot for the second goal was too good for any keeper.
Meanwhile, Mexico beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 but fell agonisingly short of reaching the last 16 on goal difference.
Quickfire second-half strikes from Henry Martin and Luis Chavez had put Mexico on course to reach the knockout stages and Uriel Antuna also put the ball in the net but the effort was disallowed for offside.
Saudi Arabia pulled a goal back in stoppage time through Salem Al-Dawsari.
Mexico finished with four points, level with Poland who lost 2-0 to group winners Argentina and had a superior goal difference of one to advance.
That ended Mexico’s run of seven straight last-16 qualifications stretching back to 1994.
Saudi Arabia were eliminated after finishing bottom of the standings on three points.
Earlier, an energetic and determined Tunisia claimed a famous victory over a France team made up mostly of back-up players, but their 1-0 win over the reigning champions was not enough for the North Africans to progress to the knockout stages.
They departed the tournament with “honour and pride”, coach Jalel Kadri said. But despite their defeat of one of the tournament favourites, their fate was ultimately not in their hands.
Tunisia needed not only to beat the already-qualified France but to hope for Denmark to avoid defeat against Australia in the other Group D game to advance. They roared onto the pitch to challenge a disjointed French side featuring nine changes from the side that beat the Danes.
But their win against the 2018 World Cup winners failed to see them through to the next stage after Australia defeated Denmark 1-0 and clinched second place in the group. Tunisia thus keep their unwanted record of not progressing from the group stage in six World Cup appearances.
&uuid=(email))