Lionel Messi’s 94th international goal in his 1000th senior appearance helped Argentina defeat Australia 2-1 to reach Quarter-Finals of 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Messi on his 1000th appearance for club and country gave Argentina a first-half lead as he curled in a clinical 35th minute goal from close-range.
Julian Alvarez intercepted Matthew Ryan’s sloppy gathering of a back to double their lead in the 57th minute, although Argentina eventually had to survive a 77th minute consolatory goal from Craig Goodwin to defeat Australia 2-1 in a nervy finish.
Officials though decided to put Goodwin’s goal down instead as an own goal by Fernandez, yet Argentina ultimately managed to dig deep to secure a first World Cup Quarter-Final appearance since 2014.
Argentina will now meet Netherlands in the Quarter-Finals on Friday 9 December at Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail in a 10pm AST local time kick-off, after the Dutch defeated USA earlier today (3 December).
Amidst the buzz surrounding Messi’s 1,000th senior match as a player, the first half struggled to live up to the electric atmosphere as both teams lacked urgency with Alejandro Gomez and Harry Souttar respectively wasting chances for their teams in the opening 33 minutes.
Aziz Behich’s 34th minute foul on Gomez near the right corner however saw the game finally hit gear, as Souttar cleared Messi’s free-kick but the ball fell for Alexis Mac Allister who teed up Nicolas Otamendi to lay off for Messi to calmly curl in to put Argentina in front.
Unfortunately Argentina were unable to further extend their lead before half-time as both teams quickly resumed their lacklustre quality, during which Milos Degenek was booked for a foul on Marcos Acuna which ensured he would miss the Quarter-Final if Australia came from behind to win this game.
There wasn’t much improvement early in the second half until Rodrigo De Paul teed up Mac Allister who laid off for Messi, yet the Argentine saw his shot in the 51st minute saved by Matthew Ryan.
Ryan though found himself at fault for Argentina’s second goal as he put a heavy touch on a backpass which allowed Alvarez to intercept and fire into an empty net to double Argentina’s lead.
Australia consequently felt the after-effects of that sloppy second goal as Argentina pressed for a third goal, with Messi surpringly having made a solo dribble run into the box in the 65th minute but couldn’t time his shot before the ball was blocked.
Messi fired wide over the top-left corner from De Paul’s pass just one minute later.
Australia however refused to give up once they rediscovered their composure, with Behich’s cross headed out to Goodwin, who unleashed a 25-yard strike which was deflected into the far-right corner by Enzo Fernandez.
Behich then attempted his own version of Messi’s earlier solo move but Lisandro Martinez blocked the shot, from which Ajdin Hrustic curled the consequential corner over the bar as Australia looked for a late equaliser to force extra-time.
Argentina eventually clung on to snatch victory and set up a Quarter-Final clash against Netherlands on 9 December, which will be the sixth time that these two teams have met in World Cup history – with their last two clashes having finished goalless in 2006 & 2014 tournaments.
Teams
Argentina:
Emiliano Martinez, Nahuel Molina (Montiel 80′), Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Acuna (Tagliafico 72′), Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister (Palacios 80′), Alejandro Gomez (Lisandro Martinez 50′), Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez (Lautaro Martinez 71′)
Substitutes: Franco Armani, Juan Foyth, Nicolas Tagliafico, Gonzalo Montiel, Leandro Paredes, German Pezzella, Angel Di Maria, Geronimo Rulli, Exequiel Palacios, Angel Correa, Thiago Almada, Guido Rodriguez, Paulo Dybala, Lisandro Martinez, Lautaro Martinez
Australia: Matthew Ryan, Milos Degenek (Karacic 72′), Harry Souttar, Kye Rowles, Aziz Behich, Matthew Leckie (Kuol 72′), Jackson Irvine, Aaron Mooy, Keanu Baccus (Hrustic 58′), Riley McGree (Goodwin 58′), Mitchell Duke (Maclaren 72′)
Substitutes: Nathaniel Atkinson, Fran Karacic, Marco Tilio, Bailey Wright, Jamie Maclaren, Ajdin Hrustic, Awer Mabil, Andrew Redmayne, Cameron Devlin, Danny Vukovic, Thomas Deng, Garang Kuol, Craig Goodwin, Joel King, Jason Cummings
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
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