Mexico downs Saudi Arabia but fails to advance for first time since 1978
Henry Martin and Luis Chavez scored in Mexico’s furious attempt to stay alive at the World Cup, but the 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia on Wednesday was not enough.
Because of Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Poland in a simultaneous match, Mexico (1-1-1) 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.
Mexico went into the match at Lusail Stadium needing 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.
Salem Aldawsari scored in second-half stoppage time for Saudi Arabia (1-2-0), which didn’t advance.
■ Argentina 2, Poland 0: Alexis Mac Allister and
Julian Alvarez scored in the second half, and both teams advanced to the knockout stage. Argentina (2-1-0) placed first in Group C, and Poland (1-1-1) moved on as the group’s second-place team on goal difference. Lionel Messi, in likely his final World Cup for Argentina, was awarded a penalty kick after being hit in the face by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny’s flailing hand. Szczesny made amends by diving to his left to block Messi’s kick.
■ Tunisia 1, France 0: Wahbi Khazri scored in the
58th minute, but Tunisia (1-1-1) failed to advance to the knockout stage. Defending champion France (2-1-0) advanced despite being saddled with its first World Cup loss since the 2014 quarterfinals. France coach Didier Deschamps rested several starters, with the team assured of moving on. Antoine Griezmann appeared to have scored the tying goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time but was ruled offside.
■ Australia 1, Denmark 0: Mathew Leckie scored in the 60th minute, and Australia (2-1-0) advanced to the knockout stage for the first time since 2006. Denmark (0-2-1) dominated possession but generated few scoring chances, the best of which came in the 10th minute, when goalkeeper Matthew Ryan stopped a point-blank shot by Mathias Jensen.