Misery for Messi as Iceland ties Argentina

MOSCOW (AFP) — Lionel Messi fluffed his World Cup lines on Saturday, missing a penalty as Iceland held Argentina to a 1-1 draw after France benefited from the first use of the Video Assistant Referee system in tournament history to grind out a victory over Australia.

Just a day after his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo scored a sensational hat-trick to secure a 3-3 draw for Portugal against Spain, Messi had a golden chance to write his own headlines.

The Argentine stepped up to the spot with the teams locked at 1-1 in Moscow’s Spartak Stadium after Rurik Gislason was adjudged to have brought down Maximiliano Meza in the 63rd minute.

But Hannes Halldorsson guessed correctly and palmed away the Argentine skipper’s side-footed effort and, despite intense pressure, Iceland held on for a famous draw in their debut at a World Cup finals.

Sergio Aguero scored the opener for the two-time world champions in the 19th minute but his strike was almost immediately cancelled out by Alfred Finnbogaso.

A downcast Messi spoke of his disappointment at the penalty miss.

“There is a bitterness of not being able to give the team all three points because I think we deserved it,” the Barcelona icon said.

Messi is yet to win a major international tournament and time is running out with his 31st birthday looming.

In the first match of the day, France launched their World Cup campaign with a hard-fought win against Australia as VAR was used for the first time at a World Cup.

The Group C match in Kazan was goalless when Antoine Griezmann went down after a tackle in the second half. Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha did not award a penalty but after viewing the VAR footage, ruled it was a spot-kick and Griezmann gave France a 1-0 lead.

Minutes later the Socceroos drew level through a penalty of their own, although this time it was awarded by the referee, with Mile Jedinak coolly beating Hugo Lloris.