Group C provided upsets, drama, tears and Messi. Despite the twists and turns the group finished how most people would have predicted beforehand.
46 million people had their hopes on Lionel Messi and this inform Argentina side. But nobody could have prepared them for that opening fixture. Argentina vs Saudi Arabia has gone down in World Cup history as one of the biggest upsets the competition had ever seen. Argentina were 36 games unbeaten before the fixture and was on track to beat Italy's record.
But Salem Al-Dawsari had a different idea. In my preview for the group I pointed Salem Al-Dawsari as the star man for Saudi Arabia and he started the tournament in the perfect way. The 2-1 victory set the tone for other upsets to come in the World Cup and already shifted the idea of an easy group for Argentina.
Mexico vs Poland was a game to forget. Except for one man, Guillermo Ochoa. The Mexican goal keeper is a World Cup icon and started the tournament in heroic fashion. The 37 year old excellently saved Robert Lewandowski's penalty is a rather dull game. It’s a shame to think this is most likely Ochoa's last World Cup.
Robert Lewandowski could have created a three point lead ahead of competition Mexico and Argentina but that penalty miss kept Saudi Arabia at the top of the group after matchday 1 but the group was wide open.
Heading into matchday 2, Argentina looked to come back from their embarrassing loss to Saudi Arabia with a difficult match against Mexico. This ended up being a record breaking game for the main man Lionel Messi who became both the youngest and oldest player to score and assist in the same match at a World Cup finals. A masterclass Messi performance gave Argentina a great 2-0 win which reminded people why Argentina were tournament favourites.
Poland faced a confident Saudi Arabia in an important match in their qualification hopes with a fixture against Argentina on the horizon. A solid performance got the Polish side over the line with a return from Robert Lewandowski who needed a big performance after his penalty miss. After matchday 2, Poland topped the group and Argentina were second on goal difference just ahead of Saudi Arabia and Mexico in last place.
Matchday 3 was set up perfectly. All 4 teams able to qualify and 2 great fixtures lined up. A lot of pressure was on Argentina who needed a win to guarantee qualification. A controversial penalty was awarded to Argentina and Messi. It was written in the stars, but Wojciech Szczesny came up on top who is on excellent penalty saving form. In the end it meant nothing, Argentina were clearly a better side a beat Poland 2-0 in the end. This put Argentina through and Poland had to hope the other game went their way.
Nobody could have written what happened in the other match. Mexico took a 2 goal lead against Saudi Arabia putting them on the same points, goal difference and head to head as Poland. The group was set to be decided on yellow cards which Poland had 2 less than. However, in devastating fashion star man Salem Al-Dawsari scored a 90+5 minute consolation goal which sent cheers to all the Poland fans.
The group finished with Argentina first with 6 points, Poland second with 4, Mexico third with 4 and Saudi last place with 3.
What an excellent group, all decided on the last day in exciting fashion. Argentina will now face underdogs Australia and Poland face 2018 winners France.
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