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 La Albiceleste, who were stunned by Saudi Arabia in their group opener, to keep their quest for a first World Cup title since 1986 alive.
Even though Robert Lewandowski-led Poland were outplayed for the entire 90 minutes, they 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.
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.
The Juventus custodian had been kept busy the entire half as Poland’s defence was repeatedly breached, but the Juventus goalkeeper stood firm to deny the Argentines, who grew 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 directly from a corner kick. Argentina took the lead immediately after the restart when Brighton striker Mac Allister redirected a Nahuel Molina cross with a first-time shot that beat Szczesny and bounced off the far post.
Manchester City attacker Alvarez scored 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.
Meanwhile, despite defeating Saudi Arabia 2-1 on Wednesday, Mexico was eliminated from the World Cup in dramatic fashion, falling to Poland on goal difference.
The Mexicans were leading 2-0 into stoppage time, which, combined with Poland’s 2-0 loss to group winners Argentina, meant the two teams would finish level on points, goal difference, goals scored, goals conceded, and head-to-head record, having drawn their first group game 0-0.
However, with Poland holding a narrow advantage in fair play points, Mexico were forced to continue sending men forward in search of a goal to advance to the knockout stage. In doing so, they were caught off guard by Saudi Arabia, allowing Poland to advance by one goal (0 GD for Poland, -1 for Mexico).
Mexico’s chances of progressing looked slim going into the match, as they had only one point from their first two matches and needed a big win and/or assistance from Argentina or Poland in the other game to advance.
Mexico took the game to Saudi Arabia from the start Wednesday at Lusail Iconic Stadium and never stopped running, peppering the goal with long-range efforts in a desperate bid to wrest control of their own fate.
Mexico exploded into life in spectacular fashion to start the second half after going goalless in their first 212 World Cup matches and 430 minutes in total dating back to 2018.
In the 47th minute, Henry Martin broke the deadlock, finishing from close range after Cesar Montes flicked on a corner to give Mexico hope. Five minutes later, there was complete chaos. Luis Chavez sent a free kick arrowing into the top corner from nearly 35 yards out, putting Mexico up 2-0 and within sight of the knockout stage.
When Argentina quickly went up 2-0 against Poland, Mexico only needed one more goal to advance. They came perilously close to achieving it several times. Hirving Lozano scored but the goal was ruled out for offside. Martin then had a chance to score but volleyed over the crossbar with only the goalkeeper to beat, immediately dropping his head into his hands.
More agony was to come when substitute Uriel Antuna broke clear behind the Saudi defence and finished, but the offside flag was raised once more. And, as Mexico desperately pushed forward in stoppage time, Saudi Arabia broke through and dealt the final blow to El Tri’s hopes with a goal from Salem al-Dawsari.
