World Cup 2022: Messi humiliated by Argentina’s date with Australia

Argentina and Poland reached the 1/8 finals after a stormy morning at the World Cup in Qatar.

There was intense drama on Day 11 when Mexico lost on goal difference after beating Saudi Arabia 2-1.

At the same time, Argentina defeated Poland 2-0.

As Mexico equaled Poland on points, goal difference and goals scored in the later stages of their Group C match, it looked like the South American nation would be excluded from the World Cup due to fair play rules given that they had received more yellow cards than Poland.

However, in the last kick, Saudi Arabia scored a consolation goal, sealing the fate of Mexico.

The results mean The Socceroos will play Argentina Messi in the Round of 16 matchup on Sunday at 6am (AEDT). after Graham Arnold’s side made it to the playoffs for just the second time.

Australia were in trouble when Tunisia beat France 1-0 in the second half, but Matthew Lecky scored one of the most important goals in Australian football history just minutes later to secure a 1-0 victory over Denmark and send through us.

It caused an absolute frenzy on the field and on the live stage. Federation Square in Melbourne where fans were seen going crazy.

You can see full list of results and full group standings here (All the time in AEDT)

7:55 – Late goal seals Mexico’s fate

Mexico could so easily score the decisive third goal they needed in the second half. Two goals were disallowed and it seemed brutal that Uriel Antuna was celebrating when the touchline umpire signaled he was offside.

He missed a beautiful backhand pass and went past the goaltender, who was a mile off his line.

However, it didn’t matter in the end as Saudi Arabia saved some pride by scoring Salema Al-Dawsari late on.

Mexico threw aside caution to find its ultimate goal.

“Mexico is destroyed,” said a commentator for the home broadcast service.

“It’s heartbreaking for them.”

07:28 – Nightmare scenario for Poland as Argentina scores again

Poland’s hopes for the round of 16 are on a knife edge after Argentina took a 2-0 lead in their final group stage match.

A thunderous strike from Julián Alvarez into the top right corner tied Poland on points and goal difference with Group C rivals Mexico.

If things remain as they are, Poland will advance on fair play as they have received fewer cards than Mexico.

7:15 am – Another big turn in Group C

Mexico dares to dream of a place in the 1/8 finals after scoring two goals in the second half, shocking Saudi Arabia.

The goals mean that Mexico joined Poland with four points in Group C in the real standings.

Mexico still needs to make up the two-goal difference.

The goals were scored one after the other after Luis Chávez scored a bizarre free-kick a mile from the penalty area.

His goal came only five minutes after Henry Martin had scored from a staccato deflection in the penalty area.

7:05 – Argentina take the lead a few seconds after the break

Argentina achieved a well-deserved 1-0 lead just seconds into the second half, with Alexis McAllister converting a low cross from Nahuel Molina.

Mac Allister’s shot into the bottom left corner of Poland’s goal beat the outstretched hand of Poland’s superstar goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and sent Argentine fans into a frenzy.

6:40 – Messi at the center of a huge VAR drama

In the final group match of the Argentina national team, there was a VAR drama: Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, as it turned out, illegally touched the face of Lionel Messi.

The Polish fans were outraged that the referee considered the contact, which occurred when Messi was attempting a header, worthy of a penalty.

This gave the Argentine maestro the chance to put his team in the lead, but there was another twist to the story.

Szczesny perfectly matched Messi’s subsequent penalty attempt, knocking her out of the game with a strong block.

The prevailing feeling among football fans was that justice had been done with a penalty, given that it was a terrible call to award Messi a penalty in the first place.

The match remains closed 0–0 at half-time in a game that was completely dominated by Argentina.

6am – ‘Never seen anything like it’: World Cup madness

Lusail Iconic Stadium had some crazy scenes as fans from Saudi Arabia and Mexico cheered for their respective teams.

Both teams can still make it out of the group stage, and the passion of the fans led to a frenetic atmosphere in the first half, with more than 80,000 people crammed into the stadium.

Almost all of these fans were rooting for Saudi Arabia.

BBC reporter Shamoun Hafez said: “It’s noisy, noisy and bright red.

“It’s already so noisy in here. The Saudi Arabian fans are making a deafening noise and my ears will be ringing for the rest of the week. This is something else.”

Similarly, it was crazy at the 974 stadium when Argentina played Poland.

4am – Socceroos make history

Australia has not been out of the group stage since the golden generation of Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill in 2006.

Now the people of Graham Arnold have done the same.

This is also the first time that Australia has won back-to-back World Cup matches.

A victory over Denmark saw the Danes and Tunisia knocked out, with France topping the group after a 1–1 draw with Tunisia.

“Can you believe it,” SBS commentator David Bashir said throughout the day.

Socceroos great Luke Wiltshire said he was speechless.

Lecky, who scores goals, said when asked how he feels in regulation time: “I’m just proud. Exhausted. All. Emotions are hard to describe.

“We always knew we could do it. We believed as a group. We had our doubts. With our spirit, our faith, our work ethic and how close we are, it shows on the pitch.

“Tonight we will give everything to the maximum, and then everything will go to recovery. Obviously, we have another game ahead of us.”

Coach Graham Arnold said he “saw in their eyes” what his players were going to show on Thursday morning.

“So proud of the boys’ efforts,” he said.

“A short turn, but their effort was incredible.”

He has already warned his players that it is time to stop celebrating and start preparing for the next match.

“No celebrations. As I told the guys, that’s why we won after a great win against Tunisia,” he said.

“No holidays, no emotions. Sleep. No social media.”

Defender Milos Degen also spoke emotionally about the game of his team.

“Each ball is like the last ball you defend to save your life,” he said.

“It’s like trying to block bullets that will hit your family. This is what we do. We block, we throw bodies at him.”

3:30 am – Lecky scores a dizzying goal

Matthew Lecky scored for Australia just minutes after Tunisia scored against France.

It was an absolute class goal from Leka as the Socceroos striker danced in the back to give Australia a 1–0 lead in the 60th minute.

Lecky’s goal was scored after a nice pass from Riley McGree and an accurate pass from defender Harry Suttar. Lecky took advantage of the moment when he went one on one with the last defender and eventually hit his left boot after a zigzag run, sending him over the goalkeeper into the net.

“Leka’s brilliant composure in the box, he turned him inside out,” former Socceroo Luke Wilkshire said in a commentary for SBS.

“I was with my left foot, and what a shot on goal. Fantastic counterattack.”

Former English striker Dion Dublin was also impressed commentating on the goal for the BBC.

“It’s a really well scored goal,” he said.

“Lecky is waiting, he needs to hold on too. Leki hits the ball, the ball goes through the legs and Male, which makes it difficult for Schmeichel.

“He doesn’t have a lot of speed on him, but he doesn’t care, he hit the net. He had a lot of work, running 40-50 yards. He had a lot to think about, but he pulled himself together.”

Football journalist Daniel Garb called it a “wonderful goal”.

3:15 am – Catastrophe when Tunisia scores against France.

Australia keeps its end of the bargain, but the weak French side is letting us down.

The French rested a host of key stars and were forced to pay early in the second half when Wahbi Khazri made an impressive run into the box to finish wide of the keeper.

All of a sudden, Australia needed a win over Denmark, not a draw.

3am – Desperate Australia forced to suffer

Graham Arnold made one halftime substitution: Keanu Baccus replaced Craig Goodwin.

There were calls for Australia to immediately look for fresh legs after the first half of the bombardment from Denmark, but Arnold refrained from making any further changes.

In the beginning, there were danger signs: it was easy for Denmark to score the ball into the penalty area. A late line-up change that replaced Fran Karacic with Milos Degen paid off early as the defender made a vital block at the goal line.

This was not the only frightening moment for Australia: the back four had to struggle desperately on several occasions.

Socceroos great Luke Wiltshire said on SBS: “This threat is behind us, but we are doing well. But it’s about how many times they fall behind us and isolate us one on one.”

SBS commentator Craig Foster said that at halftime the Socceroos had jumped into the game and were beginning to gain some confidence.

“They should come out in the second half and do the same,” he said.

“Sometimes in football matches you have to survive and suffer. They did it. Now it’s a completely different game.”

Sports reporter Melanie Dignaschi tweeted: “I don’t know, maybe it’s just because I’m still awake, but Denmark’s pace looks intimidating in the first 10 minutes.”

Sports reporter Marni Winall tweeted: “Absolutely protecting our LIFE.”

But Australia survived with a clean sheet at half-time, and that’s all that matters for now.

Earlier defender Aziz Behic received a yellow card just four minutes after the start of the fight against Denmark.

Behic was happy to commit a foul by grabbing a handful of his Danish opponent’s jumper as they struggled for the lost ball.

02:30 – “Zero Atmosphere”: shocking scenes of a decisive confrontation

This may be one of Australia’s biggest World Cup games, but it’s not for neutral players.

There were plenty of empty seats at Al Janoub Stadium and a small group of Australian fans sat in the corner. At the other end there is about the same number of Danish fans.

Most of the rest of the audience seems to be neutral, they even tried to start a Mexican wave early on – which is never a sign that they are enjoying themselves.

“The stadium is half empty and almost zero atmosphere,” Daily Mail reporter Mike Keegan tweeted. “The first Mexican wave lasted 12 minutes. It feels like there might be a lot of people here who don’t care about the Australia vs Denmark match.”

“Definitely #AUSDEN is the worst environment I have ever been in at a World Cup,” added veteran journalist Tancredi Palmer.

“The stadium is almost full, maybe only 2 thousand are missing, but silence, like during covid times, with empty stands. 2k each for Australia and Denmark and they don’t sing a bit either. Do they need beer to sing? Sad.”

“It’s also one of the most boring games I’ve ever played in a World Cup,” Palmer added.

It’s a completely different story back home, where thousands of fans filled Federation Square in Melbourne.

(All time AEDT)

Originally published as Messi saved from final humiliation when Argentina recorded date with Australia