Rest easy, soccer fans. Lionel Messi will grace the World Cup stage at least one more time.
The Argentina great had a penalty saved but his team still beat Poland 2-0 Wednesday after second-half goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez and advanced to the last 16.
Argentina finished in first place in Group C to set up a match against Australia, a surprise qualifier for the knockout stage.
It’s a strong position for Argentina to be in, especially considering the team opened the World Cup with a shocking 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in one of biggest upsets in the tournament’s history. Messi’s likely final World Cup rolls onto Saturday.
He will be relieved after failing to score a penalty for the second straight World Cup. It was awarded after being hit in the face by the flailing hand of Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who made amends by diving to his left to block Messi’s kick.
Mac Allister converted a cross from Nahuel Molina inside the first minute of the second half and Alvarez — selected ahead of Lautaro Martinez — curled the second into the top corner in the 67th minute.
Related Articles
U.S. World Cup title dreams still grounded
World Cup: Mexico beats Saudia Arabia, but comes up painfully short of advancing
Swanson: At the World Cup, Americans with Iranian roots back the USA
Photos: World Cup fans gather to watch USA vs. Iran match
Photos: World Cup watch parties overflowed in LA as US beat Iran to advance
Australia 1, Denmark 0
Australian soccer may have a new golden generation.
Mathew Leckie scored and the Socceroos beat Denmark 1-0 Wednesday to advance to the round of 16 at the World Cup for only the second time.
“I’m just so proud we’ve been able to put smiles on people’s faces,” coach Graham Arnold said, noting this is the first Australian team to win two straight games at a World Cup. “Maybe we’re talking about a new golden generation.”
The last Socceroos team to earn that honor got Australia into the knockout stage in 2006. This team did it again, and Arnold believes the achievement is worthy of a national holiday.
“Give the people a day off,” he said. “I think there will be some hangovers and some joy.”
The leader of the new generation could be Leckie, who took a pass near the center circle from Riley McGree in the 60th minute and moved around a defender before hitting a left-footed shot past Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
“I went left and swang the left foot,” Leckie said, who was then mobbed by his teammates on the field and off the bench. “I think I got slapped in the head about 100 times.”
Now Leckie wants more.
“We want to dream big,” he said. “I think the key was when we came to this tournament we always said we wanted to get out of the group. And now we’ve done that. Now the most important thing is to get ourselves ready because we worked super hard tonight. I think most of the boys are exhausted. That’s exactly what we needed to do to get a result today.”
Australia finished with six points in Group D. Defending champion France won the group on goal difference despite losing to Tunisia 1-0 in the other group match.
Tunisia 1, France 0
As France searched for a late equalizer, the players on Tunisia’s bench were watching another World Cup match on TV hoping for a goal.
Neither of them came, giving Tunisia a momentous win over defending champion France that still wasn’t enough to prevent the north African team from being eliminated.
Wahbi Khazri scored in the 58th minute Wednesday to lead Tunisia to only its third victory at a World Cup tournament. But in stoppage time, the Tunisians on the sidelines were more interested in the other Group D game, crowding around a TV screen on the bench hoping Denmark would be able to score against Australia — a circumstance that would have lifted Tunisia into second place and also into the round of 16 in Qatar.
“We were praying for a Denmark goal but it never game,” Khazri said. “But that’s the thing with soccer, you should only count on yourself. We didn’t do enough in the first two games, otherwise we’d be through.”
France ended up winning the group with six points, ahead of Australia on goal difference. Tunisia finished with four points in third place. Denmark, which lost to Australia 1-0, ended up in last place with one point.
It was France’s first loss at the World Cup since the 2014 quarterfinals, when Germany beat the team 1-0.