In their seventh meeting in history, their first in the World Cup finals, Argentina defeated the yellow kangaroos of Australia (2-1) on Saturday in the second match of the day at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan. Andres Lionel Messi opened the score in the 35th minute, signing his third goal of the tournament and his 789th career on the day of his thousandth professional match. Julian Alvarez, the young Manchester City striker, doubled the lead, scoring his second goal of the tournament in his second start.

Under constant threat from the Australians, Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez countered a ball from Craig Goodwin (77th) to propel it into his own net, (2-1). And despite the various attempts of the strikers, on both sides, the score did not move.

Argentina joined the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, as it was the case in 1998, where the Dutch won with a score of 2 goals to 1.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)