Lionel Messi, playing his 1000th match, scored a remarkable goal in Argentina’s 2-1 win over Australia in the Round of 16 clash at the FIFA World Cup 2022 on Saturday (December 4). The South American nation now bok their spot in the quarter-finals of the tournament where they will meet Netherlands, who beat USA earlier to move to next stage. Australia, despite their limitations, played well in the first 30 minutes of the match. But in the 35th minute, the genius in Messi took over and he scored the first goal for his team, which is also his first-ever knock out game goal in FIFA World Cup.
Watch his goal below to understand the mastery of Messi again:
A true Messi fan will not pass this goal without liking and retweeting. pic.twitter.com/tmzKPUOtdF— Ramat (@amohammedramat) December 3, 2022
Later, Julian Alvarez tapped into an empty net for the second goal as Argentina went up 2-0 in the game, almost sealing the spot in the quarters. Australia scored a goal in the 77th minute to make it 2–1 as Craig Goodwin netted a goal deflected off Argentina defender Enzo Fernandez. In the last few minutes, Australia showed a lot of urgency Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez was cut to the task.
Argentina continues its good run. They started off with a loss vs Saudi Arabia and now have won three back to back matches against Mexico, Poland and Australia. Their next challenge is Netherlands who will be their toughest so far in the competition. A lot will depend on Messi in that match too as the South American nation will pray and hope that he continues his good form. But the Australians showed in the last few minutes that this Argentine team has weaknesses and that is why one feels that despite these wins, Argentina is still not playing the best football that they are expected to show at a stage as big as the World Cup.