Argentina defeated Poland 2-0 in the FIFA World Cup 2022 match. Argentina go through as Group C winners with six points from their three games, while Poland go through as runners-up with four points, advancing ahead of Mexico, who join Saudi Arabia in crashing out of the competition on goal difference.
Argentina defeated Poland 2-0 | FIFA World Cup 2022
Poland played out the final stages of their game knowing another goal for either Argentina or Mexico would knock them out of the competition, and needed a goalline clearance from Jakub Kiwior in stoppage time to keep the deficit at only two. In the end, though, Poland held on, claiming a place in the last 16 that their performance hardly merited. They will need to be much better if they are to have any hope against France.
Poland head coach Czeslaw Michniewicz said his “heart stopped” during the anxious closing stages of the 2-0 defeat as his side’s qualification hopes went to the wire and midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak’s yellow card lessened their fair play advantage.
“We had an agreement that only me and the technical staff would be across what was happening in the Mexico match, at one point in time I did pass on some information to Robert [Lewandowski],” he said.
“My heart stopped a bit when Grzegorz Krychowiak was booked, we knew it was minus three points and fair play was already taken into consideration.
Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister described his goalscoring performance, as Argentina booked their place in the last 16, as a “dream come true” after the game.
“We wanted to compensate for that defeat [against Saudi Arabia],” he said. “In the second group game, we found the calm we needed.
“Today, it was a great team game, the best of the group, it gives us great confidence to have played well. We were always positive, we were calm. Leo’s penalty didn’t get us down, neither the team nor Leo.
