Lionel Messi opened the scoring against Mexico with a wonderful long-range goal as Argentina ran out 2-0 winners.
Superb goals from Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez gave Argentina a 2-0 victory over Mexico in a pulsating atmosphere at the Lusail Stadium on Saturday.
The result breathes new life into the South American side’s World Cup campaign after they suffered a stunning defeat in their Group C opener against Saudi Arabia.
Argentina knew another defeat would see them out of the tournament, but they started poorly, struggling to cope with Mexico’s high press as Messi was denied time and space to operate.
Messi broke the deadlock in the 64th minute, firing low through a crowd of defenders into the corner, equaling Diego Maradona’s record for Argentina of 21 games and eight goals at the World Cup.
Argentina fans, who made up the majority of that crowd of 88,966, erupted. More than 5,000 Argentina fans now live in Qatar.
Messi took a corner which led to a goal by Enzo Fernandez [Dylan Martinez/Reuters]
Enzo Fernandez sealed the victory in the 87th minute with a wonderful arcing strike. From a corner won by the Argentine from the left, Fernandez was able to head towards the corner of the box before unleashing a quality strike that curled into the top right corner of the goal.
In doing so, Fernandez became the youngest player to score a World Cup goal for Argentina since Messi himself in 2006.
“Today begins another World Cup for Argentina,” Messi said after the final whistle. “I tell people the same thing that they keep believing.
“In the first half, we didn’t play as well as we should have, and in the second half, when we settled down, we started to play better with the ball.”
Mexico, who have already lost all four of their World Cup clashes with Argentina, have one point and need to beat Saudi Arabia, who have three points, to have any chance of reaching the last 16, as they have done at the last seven World Cups.
Egypt’s Karima Mohamed was just one of the euphoric crowd of Mexico supporters at Lusail Stadium [Julio Cortez/AP]
With the prospect of Argentina’s elimination ahead of this game, tensions were high on and off the ball in a topsy-turvy first half, with both sets of fans creating an electric atmosphere inside and outside the stadium.
The opening period did not live up to the expectations of the match, with neither team willing to throw too many players forward, and apart from a free-kick from Mexico’s Luis Chavez in the ninth minute that went wide, there were few chances.
Mexico’s strong pressing game stifled most of their opponents’ attack and Argentina’s talisman Messi struggled to find room to maneuver in an overstretched midfield.
But in a major blow for Mexico, captain Andres Guardado, a veteran of five World Cups who had until then been a commanding presence in midfield, was taken off injured in the 42nd minute.
The Mexicans did create two more chances before the break, with Alexis Vega first curling a free-kick over the wall to save goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and minutes later firing over the bar.
The South Americans looked more determined after the break but had no real chances before their 35-year-old captain pulled them out of trouble with his second goal of the tournament, reviving their chances of winning a first-ever world title.
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