So that’s that . . . Messi and Argentina march on. After such a poor start to this World Cup, they looked impressive tonight and now go in as massive favourites this weekend to reach the quarter-finals. Poland can only get better, and they’ve Wojciech Szczesny’s heroics to thank as they edged Mexico on score difference. But will need much more against France on Sunday. Keep an eye on the homepage for the two incoming match reports!
Scroll down to follow the action as it happened in Group C. Thanks for joining us.
FT Poland 0 Argentina 2
FT Saudi Arabia 1 Mexico 2
A look at the second Argentina goal...
And that last minute Saudi goal...
GROUP C - AS IT FINISHED
FT Saudi Arabia 1 Mexico 2 - Poland progress to the last-16 on goal difference! The Polish players are celebrating on the pitch, remarkable. After such a poor showing.
Argentina will take on Australia on Saturday. Poland will play France on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia 1 Mexico 2 (94′) A goal for Saudi breaks Mexican hearts!! Mexico now need two goals to go ahead of Poland in the group. Two goals and a win will also do it for Saudi!
FT Poland 0 Argentina 2 - Argentina are through as group winners. All eyes on Mexico v Saudi now, three minutes into the seven added on in that one!!
Poland 0 Argentina 2 (92′) Lucky, lucky Poland. A lovely patient, passing move by Argentina ends with Tagliafico left one on one with Szczesny. He tries to lift it over the Poland goalkeeper but Szczesny gets a touch on it. That’s at least the third one on one missed by Argentina since their second goal!!
Saudi Arabia 0 Mexico 2 (85′) Chavez has another free-kick, this one from closer in than the one he scored from. But the wall does it’s job.
Six minutes added on in the Poland match. It’s about two minutes ahead of the Mexico game!
Poland 0 Argentina 2 (85′) Lautaro Martinez cuts out a brutal pass back to the goalkeeper, but pulls his shot horribly wide with just the goalkeeper to beat! Poland are hanging on!!
German Pezzella and Lautaro Martinez come in for Alvarez and Fernandez. Wrap those lads in cotton wool!
Saudi Arabia 0 Mexico 2 (78′) Mexican shouts for a penalty for handball are ignored by the referee and VAR. They need another goal, for Argentina to score another, or for Poland to be shown two yellow cards.
Poland 0 Argentina 2 (78′) The impressive Enzo Fernandez gets back to cut out a pass to Lewandowski on a Poland counter attack. The Barca striker must be so frustrated, he has barely touched the ball! Yellow card for Grzegorz Krychowiak. It’s now 7-5 on that front!
And it’s still 2-0 between Mexico and Saudi!
Messi is denied from point blank range. Then Alvarez hits the side netting when played through one on one. A double let off for Poland who are being dominated!
Seven yellow cards for Mexico, three for Poland, that’s the difference as things stand!
Poland 0 Argentina 2 (67′) GOAL!! Enzo Fernandez skips inside one player and then threads it through to Alvarez who sticks it in the top right corner. The youngsters combine, both brought in from the off today and showing why!!
1 Argentina 6 points +3 goal difference
2 Poland 4 points 0 goal difference
3 Mexico 4 points 0 goal difference
4 Saudi Arabia 3 points -3 goal difference
Poland remain in second place due to having less yellow cards (they are level on score difference and head to head)!
A look at the two Mexico goals (the second is some strike!!)…
Poland 0 Argentina 1 (65′) Leandro Paredes and Nicolas Tagliafico are on for Acuna and Di Maria. Messi goes on his second mazy solo run of the half, this time he wins a corner. Which comes to nothing.
Saudi Arabia 0 Mexico 2 (48′) Another one for Mexico who are hunting down that goal difference!! They’re just one off now! A Luis Chavez free-kick into the top corner! What a strike!!!
1 Argentina 6 points +2 goal difference
2 Poland 4 points +1 goal difference
3 Mexico 4 points 0 goal difference
4 Saudi Arabia 3 points -3 goal difference
Saudi Arabia 0 Mexico 1 (48′) A Mexico corner is flicked on to Henry Martin who taps it in to give his team the lead!!
As things stand, Argentina top the group on six points (+2 goal difference), Poland are in second on four with +1 goal difference. Mexico (goal difference is -1) also have four points, and Saudi Arabia (-2 goal difference) have three.
At the interval Poland brought on Jakub Kaminski and Michal Skoras. They’ll have to come out and play now. Glik’s threatening header goes wide, a decent chance which they’ll hope will signal some improvement.
Here’s a look at that goal..
Poland 0 Argentina 1 (46′) The second half is underway. And within the first minute Argentina have scored!!! Molina whips in a low cross and Alexis Mac Allister hits it first time into the bottom left corner. A nice finish from the Brighton midfielder and the stadium has erupted!!
HT Saudi Arabia 0 Mexico 0 - No goals in this game either at half-time.
As things stand, Poland top the group on five points and a +2 goal difference. Argentina (+1 goal difference) and Saudi Arabia (-1 goal difference) are tied on four points, and Mexico have two points and -2 goal difference.
HT Poland 0 Argentina 0 - Argentina have been pretty impressive and created some decent chances, with Poland just sat back and inviting the pressure on. But that disgraceful VAR decision is the main talking point. Here’s a look at it..
Three minutes added on in the Poland v Argentina match. Six in the Saudi v Mexico game.
Poland 0 Argentina 0 (42′) Alvarez cuts in on his right foot and from just inside the box shoots straight at Szczesny. The Poland goalkeeper fists it straight at Rodrigo De Paul but he’s not ready for it and the ball drops back into Szczesny’s arms. He should’ve just caught it the first time!
Poland 0 Argentina 0 (38′) Feels like justice. Messi’s penalty is saved!
It’s still goalless in the Saudia Arabia v Mexico game too
The youngsters Enzo Fernandez and Alvarez combine and the Man City attacker’s shot is well saved. It’s recovered by Argentina and crossed to the back post. Messi’s attempted header is high and wide. After the miss he’s caught, barely by Szczesny. And VAR have looked at it, and the referee has been called to the screen and he’s given a penalty. Incredible!
Poland 0 Argentina 0 (32′) Di Maria lands a curling corner kick on top of Szczesny who flicks it over the crossbar for another. This time it’s well cleared by Poland.
Poland 0 Argentina 0 (28′) A brilliant pull back by Di Maria picks out Alvarez in front of goal but his effort is tame and blocked. It falls to Acuna who connects with it beautifully but it’s just wide.
Saudi Arabia 0 Mexico 0 (20′) Edson Alvarez picks up the first yellow card of the match for a late challenge on Abdulhamid who is down receiving a bit of treatment after it.
Poland 0 Argentina 0 (21′) Poland win a corner and surround Damian Martinez but Piotr Zielinski’s corner is headed clear by Alvarez. Set pieces look like being Poland’s best chance, as they are not committing numbers forward in general play.
A smart Messi pass picks out Marcos Acuna, and from a tight angle on the left side of the penalty area, he blasts it well over. Argentina are playing with a lot of energy early on. Poland just sitting back.
Two minutes later Messi again chips it out to Acuna at the back post but his attempted header across goal slices wide.
Poland 0 Argentina 0 (12′) Di Maria picks sets up Messi on the edge of the box but his shot is saved by Szczesny, that was a very similar move to Messi’s goal in the Mexico game but Poland survive.
Saudi Arabia 0 Mexico 0 (9′) Best chance of the game so far has gone to Mexico with Alexis Vega through on goal but his shot was smothered by Al Owais. Mexico have started well.
Messi wins the ball back outside the box and shoots off balance, but the effort off his right foot is easily saved by Wojciech Szczesny.
Poland 0 Argentina 0 (2′) Messi sends in an early corner and follow up cross, with the latter being met at the back post by Nicolas Otamendi. But his header is well off target.
GAME ON! Both games kick off. And as things stand - with two scoreless draws - Poland will top the group and Argentina will finish second. Hopefully plenty of drama to come!
A deeper look at the starting teams.. Poland are sticking with two strikers, but Karol Świderski who plays in the MLS with Charlotte replaces Juventus’ Arkadiusz Milik.
For Argentina, Manchester City’s Julián Álvarez comes in for Lautaro Martínez up top. Molina replaces Montiel at right back, Enzo Fernandez replaces Guido Rodriguez in midfeld after his excellent goal against Mexico. And at centre back Lisandro Martínez is replaced by Tottenham’s Cristian Romero, probably to save him from competing for headers with Lewandowski.
Some pre-match reading..
You haven’t won anything yet, so don’t get carried away. Get showered, get dressed, get on the bus, move on. But for Argentina, getting carried away is the whole point of football. The game means nothing without the feelings we invest in it. In Argentina they feel it more intensely than anyone and football means more than anywhere else.
[ Ken Early: For Argentina, getting carried away is the whole point of footballOpens in new window ]
Fixtures, results, group stage tables, the route to the final and the race for the golden boot. Check it all out above
A look back on the day’s earlier two games, the Group D finale..
[ Group D as it happened: Australia progress as Tunisia beat FranceOpens in new window ]
TEAM NEWS
Poland: Szczesny, Cash, Glik, Kiwior, Bereszynski, Zielinski, Bielik, Krychowiak, Frankowski, Swiderski, Lewandowski. Subs: Jedrzejczyk, Wieteska, Bednarek, Milik, Damian Szymanski, Grosicki, Skorupski, Kaminski, Zurkowski, Sebastian Szymanski, Zalewski, Grabara, Piatek, Gumny, Skoras.
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez, Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Acuna, De Paul, Fernandez, Di Maria, Messi, Mac Allister, Alvarez. Subs: Armani, Foyth, Tagliafico, Montiel, Paredes, Pezzella, Rulli, Palacios, Correa, Almada, Gomez, Rodriguez, Dybala, Lautaro Martinez, Lisandro Martinez.
Saudi Arabia: Al-Owais, Tambakti, Al-Amri, Al-Bulayhi, Al-Ghanam, Al-Hassan, Kanno, Abdulhamid, Al-Buraikan, Al-Shehri, Salem Al-Dawsari. Subs: Madu, Otayf, Al-Naji, Al-Abed, Bahbri, Al-Aboud, Al-Aqidi, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Asiri, Sharahili, Al-Rubaie.
Mexico: Ochoa, Sanchez, Montes, Moreno, Gallardo, Edson Alvarez, Chavez, Lozano, Pineda, Vega, Martin. Subs: Talavera, Araujo, Vasquez, Arteaga, Romo, Rodriguez, Jimenez, Funes Mori, Cota, Gutierrez, Herrera, Guardado, Antuna, Alvarado, Kevin Alvarez.
Hello and welcome . . . It’s the final round of games in Group C tonight. All four teams are in with a chance of reaching the last-16. Poland top the group with four points and a +2 goal difference. They face Lionel Messi’s Argentina (+1 goal difference) who are tied on three points with Saudi Arabia (-1 goal difference), and the latter face Mexico who have one point and -2 goal difference.
We will keep you updated with the latest scores and action from both matches but our main focus, for starters, will be on the Messi match. I mean the Poland v Argentina match. Keep in touch via Twitter (@DonoghueEamon) but for now, let’s get started!!
