Argentina defeats Poland and both qualify for the round of 16
Argentina advanced to the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Poland in their final Group C match, despite captain Lionel Messi missing a first-half penalty at Stade 974.
Argentina's victory pushed the South American team to the top of the group, and they will face Australia in the last 16, while Poland, the second-placed team, will face France, the defending champions.
Argentina took the lead just a minute into the second half when Alexis McAllister finished off a Nouel Molina cross into the net. Although he touched the ball slightly, he watched it cross the goal line, past Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
The goal was just a reward for Argentina, who controlled the ball while Poland barely managed to advance from their own half.
The second goal came as a result of good preparation and patience as the Argentines exchanged passes before Enzo Fernandez hit the defense with a through ball to Julian Alvarez, who found space in the penalty area and fired it into the top corner of the goal.
Argentina scored six points from three matches after recovering from a 2-1 loss against Saudi Arabia in the opening round, in one of the biggest surprises in the history of the tournament.
Poland's balance froze at four points, but it snatched second place and secured qualification by one goal from third-placed Mexico, which has the same balance, by winning 2-1 over bottom-ranked Saudi Arabia.
Controversial penalty
Before that, Poland had been protesting Argentina being awarded a controversial penalty after the video assistant referee (VAR) reviewed a foul on Messi when Szczecin's glove touched his face as the PSG striker rose to head at the far post.
But Szczesny was up to the task and despite thousands of Argentina fans raising their cheering levels on the pitch, he kept his composure and could correctly anticipate where the ball would be shot, flying to the left and using one hand to deflect Messi's shot from the penalty spot.
Szczecin was busy during the entire first half as Poland's defense was breached more than once, but the Juventus goalkeeper stood in the way of the Argentines' attempts as the South American team gained confidence.
Steins Ney saved Alvarez's attempt after the Manchester City striker broke the offside trap, before deflecting a ball from Angel Di Maria over the crossbar when his Juventus colleague tried to shoot directly from a corner kick.
But the Poland goalkeeper could not deal with McAllister's shot at the beginning of the second half, and Alvarez's powerful shot in the second goal was difficult for any goalkeeper to stop.
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