Argentina captain Lionel Messi scored the opening goal with a sublime effort in his 1,000th career match before Julian Alvarez scored in the second half to set up a quarter-final tie against the Netherlands and knock Australia out of the tournament, as the Socceroos were unable to build on their fortuitous late goal.
Despite Argentina’s firepower, Australia managed to keep the early proceedings calm, with neither side asserting dominance. However, the Socceroos’ defence was breached on 35 minutes when Messi demonstrated his undeniable talent by scoring his first goal in the World Cup knockout stage.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward began the move with a darting run inside from the right wing. A quick exchange of passes got him inside the box before unleashing a left-footed curling shot past Mathew Ryan.
Argentina tightened their grip on a quarter-final spot 12 minutes after halftime when Rodrigo De Paul pounced on a slack touch by Australia goalkeeper Ryan, allowing Alvarez to slot into an empty net and double his team’s lead.
Australia’s triple substitution in the 72nd minute was a desperate last-ditch gamble by head coach Graham Arnold, and they were handed a lifeline when an own goal by Enzo Fernandez cut their deficit in half 13 minutes from time.
Craig Goodwin latched onto a loose ball outside the box and struck a fierce first-time effort that took a huge deflection off Fernandez, fooling goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and going in.
With renewed hope, Aziz Behich came within three minutes of tying the game when he went on a fantastic darting run, beating four Argentina defenders before being thwarted by Lisandro Martinez in the box.
La Albiceleste will now face off against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals on Friday. The fixture will take place at Lusail Stadium.
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