Fighting his way back
Messi pushes Argentina to victory over Mexico
Lionel Messi was almost in tears as he grabbed and shook his jersey in front of Argentina’s celebrating fans, then blew a kiss and looked to the sky.
With one of the most important goals of his career, Messi led Argentina to a 2-0 victory over Mexico on Saturday to ignite his team’s World Cup chances. His dream of winning soccer’s biggest prize in likely his last attempt is still alive.
“It’s a weight off our shoulders,” Messi said. “It gives us joy and peace of mind to start again.”
Messi took a touch from Angel Di Maria’s pass across the face of the area and drove a low shot from 25 meters (yards) into the bottom corner to give Argentina the lead in the 64th minute.
His arms outstretched, he ran toward the team’s supporters who were celebrating behind the goal and was soon mobbed by his teammates. He whirled his arms in an emotional response to scoring his 93rd — and perhaps most crucial — international goal.
Substitute Enzo Fernandez added a second goal in the 87th minute, ensuring Argentina bounced back from a 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia that ranked as one of the World Cup’s biggest ever upsets.
“We lived with discomfort and kept the defeat in the opening match in our minds,” Messi said. “The days were very long. We were eager to have the chance to turn the situation around and luckily we won.”
Argentina is second in Group C ahead of its last match against firstplace Poland on Wednesday, and might need to win it to advance.
“We can’t let our guard down now,” Messi said. “All of our matches are finals now. We can’t mess up.”
It was an eighth World Cup goal for Messi, the same number scored in the tournament by rival Cristiano Ronaldo and also Diego Maradona — the Argentina great with whom he is so often compared.
For some, Messi needs to win the World Cup — the only major title missing from his collection — to join the ranks of Pele and Maradona as soccer’s greatest ever players. Thanks to this win, it could still happen.
Mbappe scores 2, France reaches knockout stage:
France advanced, and Kylian Mbappe got them there.
The French became the first defending champions to reach the round of 16 at the World Cup since Brazil in 2006, beating Denmark 2-1 Saturday with Mbappe scoring both goals.
“Kylian is an extraordinary player. He has the ability to make the difference at any time no matter what the other team plans to contain him,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “In addition to his great ability he is totally invested in the team and he’s made it an objective of his to win the World Cup.”
Australia’s emotions run high after rare World Cup win:
Mitchell Duke celebrated scoring Australia’s winning goal by forming a “J” with his fingers in a tribute to his son Jaxson, who was in the stands. Coach Graham Arnold dragged injured winger Martin Boyle — on crutches — into the celebratory huddle as fans sang merrily along to Men at Work’s “Down Under,” blaring over the stadium speakers after the final whistle.
Later, Arnold was wiping away tears. It was an emotion-filled day for Australia, which beat Tunisia 1-0 Saturday for only its third win in 18 World Cup matches. Duke gave Australia the lead midway through the first half with a header.
“I actually was messaging some of my family, saying that I was going to score today, and I told my son that I was going to be able to share this moment with him and get that celebration,” Duke said. “I haven’t seen it yet, but apparently he did it back to me from the stadium, which was a really special moment that I’m going to treasure for the rest of my life.”
Australia hadn’t won at the World Cup since beating Serbia in 2010 and it means the Socceroos still have a chance to qualify for the round of 16.
Lewandowski leads Poland over Saudis:
Robert Lewandowski finally scored at the World Cup.
The 34-year-old striker helped Poland beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 and boost his team’s chances of reaching the knockout stages. Lewandowski shed tears after scoring in the 82nd minute. It was his first World Cup goal in his fifth appearance at the tournament.
Lewandowski also set up for the opener in the 40th minute when he kept the ball in play after goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais’ initial block and laid it back for Piotr Zielinski to knock in.