Eliminating all the confusion and doubts, Argentina marched into the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup 2022 after beating Poland 2-0 in their last group stage match at Stadium 974 - Ras Abu Aboud, Qatar. Argentina finished top in Group C, while Poland also qualified for the next round as they finished second.

Qatar 2022: Argentina vs Poland Match Report 

Argentina were ruthless and in full attacking mood against Poland from the start, defying the idea that Lionel Scaloni prefers a defensive approach. They constantly pushed the Polish defense in order to get an early lead and came very close to scoring on a number of occasions, but Wojciech Szczsny denied most of them.

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The most important save was obviously the penalty by Lionel Messi in the 39th minute. Szczsny pushed Messi in the penalty box area, and the Argentine players complained to the referee about a possible penalty. After checking the VAR, the referee gave the decision in favour of Argentina. Messi took the penalty, but Wojciech Szczsny saved it. It was a great save by the Polish goalkeeper. The first half ended at 0-0.

Within one minute of the second half, Argentina opened the scoring thanks to a goal by midfielder Alexis MacAllister. It was his first goal for the Argentina national team. Argentina didn't stop attacking the Polish defense after getting an early lead in the second half. They played at the same tempo and got the second goal in the 67th minute when Manchester City's Julian Alvarez hammered the ball into the right top corner to make it 2-0.

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Agentina found a few more chances after that, including an easy one for Messi, but he couldn't seize it. It was a disappointing night for the Argentine captain, who made a few solo runs but failed to score.

Aftermath 

Argentina struggled to perform to their full potential in their first two World Cup 2022 fixtures, but on Wednesday they showed their prowess against Poland. They dominated the European side and eventually clinched the contest 2-0. With this victory, they topped their Group and now face the Group D runner-up, Australia, on December 3 in the Round of 16 phase of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.