Lionel Messi missed a controversial first-half penalty for Argentina against Poland but his side recovered in time to register a 2-0 win, their second successive one and move into the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup as Group C winners.
On Wednesday in the last match of the day at the 974 Stadium, one goal apiece from Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez helped two-time champions Argentina to collect full points.
La Albiceleste scored both the goals in the second half to finish with six points, having started their campaign with a shocking 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in the Group C opener.
Argentina as group winners will take on Australia, which finished second in Group D. Poland with one win against Saudi Arabia and one loss, the same as Mexico, qualified on account of better goal difference over their Latin American opponent. Saudi Arabia finished at the bottom with three points for the lone win against Argentina.
Also Read : Portugal in the knockout stage
Poland which finished behind the group leaders Argentina also qualified for the last 16 stage and will take on defending champions France, which despite their 1-0 loss to Tunisia finished as group winners.
Dider Deschamps side aiming to retain the trophy will aim to continue their strong start to the tournament in the hope of reaching the quarter-finals.
Argentina and Poland join Australia, Portugal, Brazil, England, France, the Netherlands, Senegal and USA, making it ten teams making it to the last 16 stage with another six set to join the qualified teams in the next stage of the tournament.
After the match Brighton’s Mac Allister said “It was a very important victory. We were under pressure after first game but have now won the group. Very happy to score my first goal for Argentina. Today was an amazing moment for me and for my family. It’s a big moment for me and I will always remember it. We played a big match,”.
(This story has been sourced from a third-party syndicated feed, agencies. Raavi Media accepts no responsibility or liability for the text’s dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, and data. Raavi Media management/ythisnews.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content at its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.)
