Lionel Messi saved a penalty but Argentina they still advanced to the round of 16 of the World Cup as winners of Group C after a 2–0 win over Poland on Wednesday.
Poland also qualified as runners-up although a 2-1 victory for Mexico on Saudi Arabia in the other group game it meant that Czeslaw Michniewicz’s team advanced only on goal difference.
Alexis Mac Allister’s 46th-minute goal calmed Argentina’s nerves after a tense first half, before Julián Álvarez doubled their lead just over 20 minutes later.
Messi said Argentina’s 2-0 win over Mexico in their previous match had given them “composure” and he was looking forward to a round of 16 match with Australia.
“We came out thinking we had to win,” Messi said.
“The match against Australia will be difficult, anyone can beat anyone. It’s very close, we have to prepare for the game in the best way, as always.”
Argentina had been unable to overcome Wojciech Szczesny in the first 45 minutes in which the Polish goalkeeper saved his second penalty of the tournament.
Szczesny was deemed to have fouled Messi as he reached for a cross, but dove to his left to deflect the resulting penalty.
It was the 31st penalty that Messi did not convert in his career.
“I’m angry for missing that penalty, but the team came out stronger after my mistake,” he said.
“We knew that once the first goal went in it would change the game.”
Poland, who now face France in the round of 16, offered little attacking threat, with star striker Robert Lewandowski virtually anonymous throughout.
Instead, Szczesny was left to take center stage for the Poles, denying Messi with two crucial early saves.
First, Messi wriggled past a group of defenders before firing a shot that flew straight at the goalkeeper.
He then found space to charge into the Polish box on the left, forcing Szczesny to make a save at his near post.
Argentina continued to create the best chances in the first half and Marcos Acuña fired wide after Álvarez also came close to breaking the tie.
Szczesny had to fight to keep Angel di Maria from scoring straight from a corner, before the keeper sprang back into action to deny Álvarez.
Penalty saved
Szczesny outdid himself when he dove to his left to save Messi’s penalty in the 39th minute.
He still had more to do before the half-time whistle, deflecting a shot from Álvarez before saving Rodrigo de Paul’s follow-up.
There was nothing he could do when Mac Allister broke the tie less than a minute after the break.
Nahuel Molina charged down the right, then sliced the ball back for Mac Allister to drill just beyond Szczesny’s reach.
The goal forced Poland to show late attacking ambition and Kamil Glik headed wide from a free kick almost immediately after the restart.
Argentina kept going for more goals and Álvarez scored the second after combining well with Enzo Fernández.
Fernández, making his first start for Argentina, picked his teammate, who held off a defender before flicking the ball past Szczesny.
“We were trying to score all the time and I think we went back to being the team that we used to be,” Mac Allister said.
“We controlled the ball more, we were calm and we didn’t despair. We played a great game”.
Poland were still walking a tightrope with yellow cards potentially crucial to their chances of reaching the round of 16.
Grzegorz Krychowiak entered the book in the 83rd minute, but a late Saudi Arabian goal against Mexico left the Poles safe on goal difference.
“It wasn’t a game for a striker, but I knew it would be like this,” Lewandowski said.
“For me, for the Polish team, given the chances we have, it was a success.
“No one will remember how this game went, we will only prepare for France.”
Agony for Mexico
Meanwhile, Mexico suffered a painful World Cup exit on goal difference despite beating Saudi Arabia 2-1 in a dramatic Group C final.
Second-half goals from Henry Martin and Luis Chavez clinched Mexico’s victory at Lusail Stadium, but they finished third behind Poland after a late goal from Salem Al-Dawsari.
Mexico desperately pushed for a third goal in an effort to improve their goal difference while facing elimination under FIFA’s fair play rules, but fell just short.
“That’s why we did it,” Mexico coach Gerardo Martino said. “We knew that Poland had fewer yellow cards and it was necessary at that moment because of the other result.
“It is a great sadness and I take responsibility for this great failure.”
Saudi Arabia’s victory over Argentina in their opening match was one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, but they got back on their feet with a 2-0 loss to Poland in their second match.
Coach Herve Renard urged his players to prove it was not a whim and write themselves down in Saudi football history by reaching the knockout rounds for the first time since 1994.
“Before this match, we dreamed of doing it again,” Renard said. “With the game we played today, we didn’t deserve to go to the second round.”
“Mexico was much better than us,” he added.
Failing to win either of their first two group stage matches for the first time in 44 years, Mexico knew victory was essential if they were to have a chance of reaching the round of 16 in an eighth consecutive World Cup.
Martino dumped the back five he used in the 2-0 loss to Argentina and brought in Martin to lead the attack.
He almost got immediate rewards, but Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais ran in to block Alexis Vega after Hirving Lozano slipped him behind the defence.
Al-Owais, one of the heroes of the 2-1 win over Argentina, tentatively deflected a cross that bounced in front of a pounced Martin and saved feeble attempts from Chávez and Orbelin Pineda.
Mohamed Kanno fired a free kick just over Saudi Arabia, who saw defender Ali Al-Bulayhi sent off with injury, adding to their growing list of casualties.
Mexico continued to attack without success and Ali Al-Hassan almost sent most of the Saudi crowd into a frenzy late in the first half with a diving header that missed the far post.
Chávez tested Al-Owais just after the break and Martin soon broke the tie by turning from close range after a clever drive from César Montes from a corner.
Mexico’s second goal came just five minutes later when Chávez sensationally fired a free kick into the top corner from 30 meters.
Keeping an eye on the score between Argentina and Poland, Mexico relentlessly pressed for the third goal, Lozano’s shot being annulled for tight offside.
Martin glowed when he had a glorious opportunity and Chávez had another free kick parried by Al-Owais, who also slumped to his right to catch a shot from Lozano.
Uriel Antuna had another goal disallowed for offside before Al-Dawsari’s late goal.
