A dramatic night in Qatar in Group C where Mexico’s hopes of progressing ended while Poland just about got through.
At the start of the night, perhaps Lionel Messi and Argentina were under the most pressure… intangible as that might be, you could say that statement with a fair amount of conviction. Failure is simply not an option at the World Cup for that football-mad nation, but a group stage exit? That would be disastrous.
And it was a real possibility when the night started. Not just a mathematical, hypothetical situation that we all come up with when discussing these scenarios. They faced a defensively tight opponent in Poland, with the potential to frustrate them all night. And what happened between Mexico and Saudi Arabia would have decided their fate if they were unable to find answers against the Europeans. Or worse, if Argentina lost, their tournament was over anyway. Lionel Messi’s last dance at the World Cup would have been an ignominious group stage exit.
But what transpired in the end, after some dramatic moments, was Argentina cruising through as group winners with a polished performance over 90 (and some) minutes while Poland were left hanging on to a thread and biting the nails, while Mexico (and Saudi Arabia too) endured heartbreaks.
Poland pip Mexico on goal difference to join Argentina in last-16 on dramatic night
If you missed the mad-cap finish, here’s a recap of the key moments.
At Stadium 974, it was clear in the first few minutes that Poland had set out to not concede and perhaps hold on for a 0-0 draw that would have seen them top the group. They rarely created chances of note, with Robert Lewandowski doing more defensive work than building attacking moves. Argentina, with a few changes to their lineup, started peppering Poland’s goal. Wojciech Szczesny was heavily involved, saving brilliantly from Angel di Maria’s attempted goal directly from a corner – an Olimpico. But his time in the spotlight would come after a ridiculous VAR decision to award Argentina a penalty. The referee (and those advising him) decided that the goalkeeper brushing Messi’s face with his gloves while coming to gather the ball was an offence. Then what, he is supposed to stop coming for crosses?
But while the debate raged, Szczesny made the universally acceptable gesture for “calm down, I got this!” presumably to his teammates, before diving to his left and saving Messi’s spot kick. The legend could only smile because he had hit it well, powerful enough even if the angle was not steep. But the Juventus stopper saved his second penalty kick of the tournament with a sensational right-arm diving stop.
Meanwhile at Lusail Stadium, Saudi Arabia’s verve from the first two matches had gone missing.
