Argentina didn’t make its route to the World Cup knockout stage simple. The shock loss in the opener to Saudi Arabia confirmed that it would be a roundabout path to the round of 16, and in a matchup against Poland that it thoroughly dominated, a missed penalty by star Lionel Messi marked a first half full of wasted chances.
But ultimately, the quality of La Albiceleste shone through. Alexis Mac Allister scored the opener with a well-placed volley, and Julián Álvarez solidifed the victory with a goal of his own. But for Poland, this result was far more tense.
Robert Lewandowski’s side was under the cosh for most of the match. Even with a loss, Poland needed just to hold onto its substantial goal differential lead over Mexico after El Tri took a 2–0 second half lead over Saudi Arabia. It wasn’t a pretty performance, but Poland did what it needed to advance to the round of 16. With Mexico winning just 2–1, Poland advanced to the knockout stage on goal differential. Wojciech Szczęsny was a brick wall for his side, denying nine Argentina chances in the first half—including the Messi penalty kick—as both teams vied for spots in the knockout round.
Argentina will face Australia, a surprise second-place finisher in Group D, while Poland will book a date with defending champion France on the other side of the bracket.
Argentina looked to strike early, and Ángel Di María won a corner kick 90 seconds into the match to try to make that happen. Messi’s initial take was blocked, but his second cross picked out Nicolas Otamendi by the far post, with the center back directing his chance wide of the post.
It was Lewandowski’s turn to create next, with his cross to the top of the Argentina box in the fourth minute picking out Krystian Bielik, whose shot was ultimately blocked before testing goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez.
In the seventh minute, Messi forced the game’s first save. It wasn’t his finest effort, a scuffed, right-footed shot from 20 yards, but it caused Wojciech Szczęsny to react, going down and to his right to make the save.
Messi forced another save in the 10th minute, firing from his more favored left foot at the near post.
Messi played provider in the 16th minute, picking out Marcos Acuña on the left hand side. The Sevilla fullback cut back centrally and curled a right-footed shot, but he whizzed it over the target.
The 28th minute brought two close calls for Argentina. First, it was Álvarez having a chance cleared off the line by a Poland defender. The clearance fell to Acuña, who laced a chance right by the far post, not missing what would have been a stunning goal by much.
Five minutes later, Di María came inches from scoring on an Olimpico. With a corner kick from the far corner, the veteran winger curled in his chance, but Szczęsny was all over it, reacting well and tipping it over the bar.
Szczęsny made another massive save in the 36th minute, denying Álvarez from close range after the Man City forward had been played through. On the ensuing sequence, though, Argentina was given a penalty following VAR review. Szczęsny had come off his line to make a play on the ball, and in the follow through, his arm caught Messi’s face.
Despite the controversial nature of the call, Szczęsny made it moot. He saved Messi’s penalty, diving to his left for his second penalty save of the competition.
Finally, just seconds into the second half, Argentina found a deserved breakthrough. Mac Allister, who had played 68 minutes in the win over Mexico, sent home a beautiful first-time strike on a cross from Nahuel Molina to give La Albiceleste a critical goal.
It was the Brighton midfielder’s first ever national team goal, and the first goal Poland allowed at the tournament.
Poland responded quickly with some of its first pressure of the match, as a header from a set piece was sent just wide in the 49th minute.
20 minutes after the first, Argentina found its cushion. La Albiceleste continued to dominate possession, searching for the perfect opportunity to strike. Enzo Fernandez found his moment, driving forward and poking a lovely ball through to Álvarez, who fired it home with a clinical finish.
Argentina continued to knock on the door. Messi found Álvarez with a perfectly-weighted through ball in the 71st minute, but the young striker sent his effort wide of the near post.
The pressure was unrelenting on a Poland side that couldn't afford to allow another goal. Lautaro Martinez, on a as a substitute for the second goalscorer, was through on goal in the 84th minute, but couldn’t slot home his effort that would’ve surely sent Poland home.
Poland fought for its World Cup lives over the last several minutes. In stoppage time, an effort was saved off the line to keep the goal differential level with Mexico—before Saudi Arabia scored to give Poland the tiebreaker advantage.
Here were the lineups for both sides:
Full World Cup squads:
Argentina
GOALKEEPERS: Franco Armani (River Plate), Emi Martínez (Aston Villa), Gerónimo Rulli (Villarreal)
DEFENDERS: Marcos Acuña (Sevilla), Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Lisandro Martínez (Manchester United), Nahuel Molina (Atlético Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica), Germán Pezzella (Real Betis), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Nicolás Tagliafico (Lyon)
MIDFIELDERS: Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético Madrid), Enzo Fernández (Benfica), Alejandro Gómez (Sevilla), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Leandro Paredes (Juventus), Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis)
FORWARDS: Thiago Almada (Atlanta United), Julián Álvarez (Manchester City), Ángel Correa (Atlético Madrid), Paulo Dybala (Roma), Ángel Di María (Juventus), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
Poland
GOALKEEPERS: Kamil Grabara (Copenhagen), Łukasz Skorupski (Bologna), Wojciech Szczęsny (Juventus)
DEFENDERS: Jan Bednarek (Aston Villa), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria), Matty Cash (Aston Villa), Kamil Glik (Benevento), Robert Gumny (Augsburg), Artur Jędrzejczyk (Legia Warsaw), Jakub Kiwior (Spezia), Mateusz Wieteska (Clermont), Nicola Zalewski (Roma)
MIDFIELDERS: Krystian Bielik (Birmingham City), Przemysław Frankowski (Lens), Kamil Grosicki (Pogon), Jakub Kaminski (Wolfsburg), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Al-Shabab), Michal Skoras (Lech Poznan), Damian Szymański (AEK Athens), Sebastian Szymański (Feyenoord), Piotr Zielinski (Napoli), Szymon Żurkowski (Fiorentina)
