Argentina vs Poland: Messi, Lewandowski aim to secure spots in Round of 16
Celebrations engulfed Argentina’s locker room after a galvanizing 2-0 victory over Mexico Saturday night, but the job is not yet finished for Lionel Messi and company.
Los Albicelestes face Poland in their Group C finale on Wednesday at 7 pm inside Stadium 974. Only a victory would guarantee qualification, with any other result leaving their fates up to the opposite fixture featuring Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Poland need just a draw to book their spot in the Round of 16.
Argentina enter the final group stage match with three points, while Poland have four coming off a 0-0 draw against Mexico and a 2-0 victory over Saudi Arabia. Of course, Argentina began their tournament with a shocking 2-1 loss to The Green Falcons.
Despite their victory over Mexico, Argentina are still lacking conviction. Messi can pull magic out of the hat at any moment, but there seems to be too much reliance on the man seeking his first-ever World Cup trophy.
Angel Di Maria put forth a fine shift against Mexico, and Argentina’s attack looked much more threatening with substitutes Julián Álvarez and Enzo Fernández. The latter scored one of the goals of the tournament Saturday night.
Poland, meanwhile, are also coming off an unconvincing performance last time out. The Red and Whites narrowly survived an early onslaught from Saudi Arabia and scored two goals against the run of play to move straight to the top of Group C.
One of those goals was scored by Robert Lewandowski, ending his career-long drought at the World Cup.
“The importance of the goal and how I scored it made all my dreams from childhood come true,” Lewandowski told the media after the match.
Poland’s dreams of reaching the knockout round might have taken a serious hit Saturday if not for the heroics of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny. The Juventus shot-stopper made an incredible double save late in the first half against Saudi Arabia and played one of the best games of the tournament by any keeper.
Argentina feel like the favorites to win, but some recent trends would have to break. They have lost their last two World Cup games against European nations, while Poland have kept a clean sheet in three-straight World Cup matches. This will be the third meeting between the sides at the World Cup, with each registering one victory.
Both sides are expected to have a full team available for selection with no injury concerns.
