Australia v Argentina World Cup snapshot

By: Shayne Hope Time published 2022-12-04 at 08:32 AM (GMT +11:00)

A snapshot of Argentina's 2-1 win over Australia at the World Cup in Qatar, which ended the Socceroos' run in the round of 16.

SNAPSHOT OF AUSTRALIA'S WORLD CUP GAME AGAINST ARGENTINA

* Result: Australia 1 Argentina 2

* Key moment: A rare mistake from Socceroos goalkeeper Mat Ryan proved costly when he attempted to play out from the back early in the second half. The Australia captain was under pressure from two opponents in his own box and quickly robbed of possession by Julian Alvarez, who rolled the ball into the net to make the score 2-0 in Argentina's favour. The Socceroos never got back on level terms despite scoring when Enzo Fernandez deflected Craig Goodwin's speculative shot into his own goal.

* Player of the match: Lionel Messi marked his 1000th professional appearance with his first goal in the knockout stages of a World Cup. Australia kept their defensive shape early but Argentina's superstar was given a touch of space in the box and prised open the Socceroos in the 35th minute. Messi took one deft touch before guiding a low left-foot shot through a sea of oncoming defenders, sliding it beyond the diving Ryan. It was Messi's 94th goal for Argentina and took him past the great Diego Maradona as the second-highest scorer for his country at the World Cup finals with nine. Only Gabriel Batistuta (10) sits above Messi on the list.

* Stats that matter: Australian forward Garang Kuol became the youngest player to feature in the World Cup knockout stages since Brazil's all-time great Pele in 1958. At 18 years and 79 days, Kuol was injected as a second-half substitute for the Socceroos and almost snatched an equaliser in the dying seconds of added time, but his shot was saved.

* Quote of the day: "We did everything we could to give ourselves a chance in the game. When Argentina are celebrating like this, victory against Australia, it shows what kind of opposition we gave them." - tearful midfielder Jackson Irvine was proud of the Socceroos' effort against the world No.3.

* What's next: The Australians are on their way home while Argentina look ahead to a quarter-final against the Netherlands on Friday night (0600 AEDT Saturday). The Dutch beat the United States 3-1 in their knockout fixture.