Messi and Argentina beat Poland to advance

Mexico edges past Saudi Arabia but it’s not enough to stay alive

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, on Wednesday after secondhalf 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 on to 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.

Mexico 2, Saudi Arabia 1

LUSAIL, QATAR Henry Martin and Luis Chaves each scored in Mexico’s furious attempt to stay alive at the World Cup, but the 2-1 victory Wednesday night over Saudi Arabia was not enough.

Because of Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Poland in a simultaneous match, Mexico failed to advance out of its group for the first time since 1978.

Mexico had reached the knockout round at the past seven World Cups, second only to Brazil, which has gone through to the round of 16 since 1986.

El Tri went into the match at Lusail Stadium needing both a victory and help from Poland playing across town against Argentina to advance in Group C. Argentina’s victory meant goal difference came into play.

Martin scored in the 48th minute to give El Tri hope, and the team’s chances got even better with Luis Chavez’s goal on a free kick four minutes later.

Mexico tried desperately in the final 20 minutes to get another goal — including an effort by Uriel Antuna in the 87th minute that was ruled offside — but came up short.

Salem Aldawsari scored in second-half stoppage time for Saudi Arabia, which was eliminated along with Mexico.

Martin’s goal ended Mexico’s 431minute scoring drought at the World Cup, dating back to their second group match at the 2018 tournament in Russia. It was the team’s longest ever stretch without a goal.

Mexico opened the tournament in Qatar with a 0-0 draw against Poland and but fell 2-0 to Lionel Messi and Argentina.

Tunisia 1, France 0

AL RAYYAN, QATAR 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 1-0 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.

Khazri broke the deadlock early in the second half, running at the heart of the French defence and beating two players before poking the ball into the bottom corner.

He fell to his knees in celebration and was mobbed by teammates. When he got back up, he made a heart shape to the Tunisian fans behind the goal and then limped off, appearing to hurt himself as he fell when scoring his 25th international goal and his third at World Cups.

Australia advanced to the round of 16 by beating favoured Denmark on Mathew Leckie’s 60th-minute goal

Australia 1, Denmark 0

AL WAKRAH, QATAR Australia advanced to the round of 16 at the World Cup, beating favoured Denmark, 1-0, on Mathew Leckie’s 60th-minute goal.

It is Australia’s first time in the knockout stage since 2006, the only other time they advanced out of the group stage.

Leckie took a pass near the centre circle and moved around a Danish defender before hitting a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel diving to his left.

The World Cup proved to be a major disappointment for Denmark after reaching the semifinals in the 2020 European Championship. They slogged through a 0-0 draw in their opening match with Tunisia and then recovered in a 2-1 loss against France.

Denmark dominated possession through much of the game but could not generate enough chances.