Lionel Messi and Argentina moved closer to achieving their World Cup dream with a win over Poland taking them into the knockout stages of the competition at Stadium 974.
They needed to replicate their result against Mexico in their previous match to stand a chance of making it out of Group C and did so thanks to strikes from Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez.
The star-studded team showed urgency from the off with Messi drawing a couple of saves from Wojciech Szczęsny inside the first 10 minutes.
Messi then missed a glorious chance from the penalty spot before halftime with the Juventus keeper getting a hand on his powerful shot to guide it away from the goal.
It did not take long for Argentina to score after the restart with Mac Allister putting away a cross after just 56 seconds had passed after the halftime break.
Alvarez then scored from a scrumptious shot in the 67th minute to put his side in a comfortable position before Messi, Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez missed chances to fatten the lead further.
The win sees Argentina reach the next round despite a shocking opening game loss to Saudi Arabia where they will be joined by Poland who reached the knockout phase of the World Cup on a goal difference ahead of Mexico.
Mexico, meanwhile, exited the competition despite beating Saudi Arabia 2-1 in their match Group C match at the same time.
Tata Martino’s side dominated their opponents from the start but managed to score only twice through Henry Martin and Luis Chavez heading towards the end of the game.
The two-goal difference would have seen them eliminated from the World Cup based on “fair play” points so they continued to pour forward leaving space open for Salem Aldawsari to score in the 95th minute and send them home.
