Despite the opening day defeat against Saudi Arabia, seven-times Ballon D’Or winner, Lionel Messi and the Argentinian national team finished at the zenith of Group D after they defeated the Poland 2-0 at the ongoing FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar.
In the make or break fixture, Lionel Messi’s penalty was saved by Poland’s goalkeeper, Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny.
It was the second penalty save from the Polish goalkeeper in the tournament. His save would prove vital in the end as it aided the Polish national team to finish second.
Due to the fierce competition in Group D, Mexico who also finished with 4 points were eliminated due to goal difference.
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In the other group D game between Saudi Arabia and Mexico, a late goal from Saudi’s Salem Al Dawsari‘s sealed El Tri’s elimination, although they were already on their way out by an even finer margin.
Mexico were quite close to reaching the knockout stage at an eighth consecutive tournament.
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France and Australia would be going through to the knockout stages after finishing atop of Group C.
Despite a 1-0 loss to Tunisia, the defending World Cup champions already garnered the required points from the opening games to win the group.
As for Australia, they bounced back from an humiliating defeat on the opening day to exceed the group stages since 2006. Mathew Leckie’s winning goal against Denmark was enough to put them through to the next round.
Here is how Group C finished.
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