Argentina National Football Team maintained their chances of winning the Qatar World Cup 2022 by claiming a convincing victory against Poland in their final matchup in the group stage. Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez scored for Argentina in the second half to lead them to a 2-0 victory over Poland in a game that Argentina absolutely needed to win.
However, the most talked-about part of the game was Lionel Messi’s effort at a penalty kick that he did not make. When Wojciech Szczesny stopped Lionel Messi’s penalty shot in Argentina, he wrote a historic chapter in Poland’s rivalry with Argentina.
The event that led to the awarding of the penalty occurred in the 39th minute of the match when Szczesny took Messi to the ground by bringing him to the ground during an aerial challenge.
The Polish goalkeeper made amends for his earlier error by preventing Lionel Messi’s penalty kick from going in. He is the first player in the history of the FIFA World Cup to save two penalty kicks, and he does it while captaining Argentina.
FIFA World Cup 2022: Messi Was the Only Player to Miss Two of His Three Penalty Kicks
Also Read: Argentina vs Poland: Lionel Messi Reacts to FIFA World Cup Round-of-16 Qualification
During the FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi was the only player to miss two of his three penalty kicks. This is a player record that stretches back to at least the year 1966. Two of Asamoah Gyan’s four attempts were unsuccessful.
On the other hand, Wojciech Szczesny became only the second goalkeeper in the history of the Qatar World Cup 2022 to save a penalty kick after having previously conceded one. Only two other goalkeepers, one American and one Polish, have been able to successfully block two non-shootout penalties at the same World Cup.
These goalkeepers are Brad Friedel (2002) and Jan Tomaszewski (1974), from the United States and Poland, respectively. After suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia but eking out a victory over Mexico, Argentina needed a remarkable effort from Lionel Messi in order to get to the knockout phase.
In Argentina’s opening match in Qatar World Cup 2022 against Saudi Arabia, the PSG superstar scored in the shocking 2-1 loss. He did, however, miss his prior attempt in the 2018 1–1 tie with Iceland.
Match Between Argentina and Poland Was Billed as a Battle
He moved to the goalkeeper’s right that time, but Hannes Halldorsson made the proper judgement and palmed the ball away safely. Argentina won 2-0 and took first place in Group D after scoring twice in the second half to make up for their loss to Poland.
The match between Argentina and Poland was billed as a battle between Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski, but Lionel Messi played poorly in the decisive match. In the end, the Argentina captain had a sense of relief despite the fact that he had missed a penalty shot for the second World Cup in a row.
Mac Allister scored the game-winning goal just one minute into the second half, capitalizing on a pass from Nahuel Molina. This goal broke the stalemate. Julian Alvarez, who started the game in place of Lautaro Martinez, scored the game-winning goal with a shot that curled into the top corner 67 minutes into the match.
Mexico advanced to the round of 16 with a 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia, but they were eliminated from the competition because they had a lower goal differential than Poland and Argentina.
