Poland qualify despite defeat to Argentina

Argentina qualified top of Group C after an imperious 2-0 win over Poland. The Poles meanwhile snuck through by the skin of their teeth thanks in part to their goalkeeper.

Action: This was much more like the Argentina many had expected to see in Qatar. The Albiceleste were on top from the first minute.

Julián Álvarez, starting ahead of Lautaro Martínez, and Marcos Acuña both had chances to open the scoring for Argentina early on.

But it was Lionel Messi who had the biggest chance of all. VAR asked Dutch referee Danny Makkelie to take a look at the monitor as Wojciech Szczesny collided with Lionel Messi while trying to clear a cross. The official took a long look at it and eventually pointed to the spot.

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Poland offered nothing going forward in the 45 minutes, perhaps safe in the knowledge that a draw would be enough for qualification. 

That tactic stopped working just seconds after the restart when Alexis Mac Allister’s shot trickled into the far post. 

The Argentina goal did prompt Poland to have their only real chance of the game when Piotr Zielinski’s cross was headed just wide by Kamil Glik.

Argentina were by far the better team though, keeping hold of the ball and creating a whole host of chances. 

Julián Álvarez eventually got the goal he deserved in the 68th minute. Enzo Fernández’s through ball found the Manchester City striker, whose fierce shot gave Szczesny no chance.

Poland’s qualification hopes were hanging on by a thread with Mexico 2-0 up in the Saudi Arabia game with fewer bookings the only thing keeping them in the tournament.

They should have been further down too. Substitute Lautaro Martínez should have scored when he picked up Jakub Kiwior’s back pass. But Kiwior then turned into a hero when he made a goal-line clearance to deny Nicolás Tagliafico.

As it happens, Poland were extremely fortunate to progress to the last 16, they offered nothing all game and were lucky that the game between Mexico and Saudi Arabia went the way they needed it to. With this kind of performance, they won’t go much further.

Reaction: Brighton's Alexis Mac Allister: "I'm happy because it was a convincing performance. We looked for the goal at all times. I think we went back to being the team we used to be. We handled the ball more, we were calm and we didn't get desperate. We played a great game."

Magic Moment: The build-up to Tagliafico’s chance at the death was a sustained period of possession by Argentina as they passed the ball around with ease. It deserved a goal.

Man of the Match: Wojciech Szczesny is the only reason why Poland weren’t on the receiving end of hammering from Argentina. His penalty save was brilliant in particular. The Juve man is the first goalkeeper to save two penalties in the same tournament (excluding shoot-outs) since Brad Friedel for the USA in 2002.

xG: Poland (0.31) 0-2 (3.83) Argentina

Stat of the Day: Messi has two of his three penalties in the World Cup, the most by any player since at least 1966 (when these stats began). Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan is level with Messi, having missed two of four.

#Qatar2022

⚽ @Argentina 🇦🇷 2 (Alexis Mac Allister y Julián Álvarez) 🆚 #Polonia 🇵🇱 0

👉 ¡Final del partido!

🔜 El elenco comandado por Lionel Scaloni jugará el próximo sábado ante #Australia 🇦🇺

¡Vamos #TodosJuntos a octavos! 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/3kjSLQ8fAf

— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) November 30, 2022