LIVE: Messi Goal Gives Argentina Lead vs. Australia in Last 16
The Argentina superstar scored his first-ever goal in the World Cup knockout stage to give La Albiceleste a first-half lead.
After a tumultuous group stage that started with losses for each side, Argentina and Australia face off in the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup.
Every game from here on could be Lionel Messi’s last on the World Cup stage with Argentina facing heavy pressure to make one final push for the PSG star in his fifth tournament. La Albiceleste got off to a disastrous start with its shocking loss to Saudi Arabia to open the group stage before a pair of 2–0 wins against Mexico and Poland righted the ship and still saw Argentina win the group.
Australia, meanwhile, briefly held a lead against defending champion France in its opener before suffering a 4–1 defeat. Picked by many to finish last in Group D after barely qualifying for the tournament via the intercontinental playoff, the Socceroos then went on to defeat Tunisia and stun Denmark with 1–0 victories to book its second-ever trip to the knockout rounds.
Saturday’s match also marked a milestone for Messi, who is playing in his 1000th game for club and country. Meanwhile, Mat Ryan and Mathew Leckie jointly set the Australian men’s record for World Cup appearances with 10.
Australia was happy to sit back in the opening 10 minutes as Argentina tried to pass around the Socceroos to no avail. There were no shots between the two sides in the first 15 minutes.
The Socceroos earned a corner in the 24th minute for the first true action of the game, but Australia wasn’t able to threaten.
Five minutes later, Australia had another chance on corner via the six-foot-four defender Harry Souttar, but his header was sent into a cluster of Argentina defenders.
But Argentina would strike first in the 35th minute courtesy of Messi in what was the superstar’s ninth World Cup goal but his first-ever goal in the World Cup knockout stages. At the edge of the area, Messi took a quick pass from Nicolás Otamendi, steadied his feet and then sent a low shot through the legs of Souttar that sped into the far corner of the goal.
Just after the halftime break, goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez didn’t do Argentina any favors when he allowed Mitchell Duke to close him down and get a piece of his clearance, although the deflection was not directed toward goal.
Follow along here for live updates and highlights of goals and key plays from throughout the match (refresh for most recent updates).
Here are the lineups for both sides:
Full World Cup squads:
Argentina
GOALKEEPERS: Franco Armani (River Plate), Emi Martínez (Aston Villa), Gerónimo Rulli (Villarreal)
DEFENDERS: Marcos Acuña (Sevilla), Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Lisandro Martínez (Manchester United), Nahuel Molina (Atlético Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica), Germán Pezzella (Real Betis), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Nicolás Tagliafico (Lyon)
MIDFIELDERS: Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético Madrid), Enzo Fernández (Benfica), Alejandro Gómez (Sevilla), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Leandro Paredes (Juventus), Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis)
FORWARDS: Thiago Almada (Atlanta United), Julián Álvarez (Manchester City), Ángel Correa (Atlético Madrid), Paulo Dybala (Roma), Ángel Di María (Juventus), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
Australia
GOALKEEPERS: Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC), Mat Ryan (Copenhagen), Danny Vukovic (Central Coast Mariners)
DEFENDERS: Nathaniel Atkinson (Heart of Midlothian), Aziz Behich (Dundee United), Miloš Degenek (Columbus Crew), Thomas Deng (Albirex Niigata), Fran Karačić (Brescia), Joel King (Odense Boldklub), Kye Rowles (Heart of Midlothian), Harry Souttar (Stoke City), Bailey Wright (Sunderland)
MIDFIELDERS: Keanu Baccus (St Mirren), Cameron Devlin (Heart of Midlothian), Ajdin Hrustic (Hellas Verona), Jackson Irvine (St. Pauli), Riley McGree (Middlesbrough), Aaron Mooy (Celtic)
FORWARDS: Martin Boyle (Hibernian), Jason Cummings (Central Coast Mariners), Mitchell Duke (Fagiano Okayama), Craig Goodwin (Adelaide United), Garang Kuol (Central Coast Mariners), Mathew Leckie (Melbourne City), Awer Mabil (Cádiz), Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City)