Messi and Fernandez magic secures crucial win for nervy Argentina

The opening minutes were closely-fought, and neither side managed to establish supremacy, with both sides tweaking their tactical approaches compared to the opening game and adapting to unfamiliar setups.

But it was Mexico’s 3-5-2 setup that appeared to make the greater impact, and Lionel Scaloni’s men struggled to create clear scoring chances, with Lionel Messi conspicuous in his inability to make an impact in the final third, despite knowing his final shot at lifting the greatest trophy of all was hanging in the balance.

However, that did not translate to Mexico troubling Argentine custodian Emiliano Martinez, save for a few attempts from Alexis Vega. Despite their fans audibly clamouring for a goal, against a team Mexico had lost to in all three prior World Cup head-to-heads, Gerardo Martino’s men looked happy to merely protect the backline and play out a scoreless draw. Indeed, the most noteworthy event ended up being Andres Guardado’s injury a few minutes before the break.

Argentina did not make too many changes in their approach for the second half, and they were visibly starting to get anxious. But Messi was there to save the day once more, as he took advantage of a touch outside the box and drilled a 25-metre effort past Guillermo Ochoa, finding the back of the net for his second goal in the competition and sending fans into raptures. Determined not to play the fool in Messi’s sixth straight goalscoring international, Mexico responded with two quick substitutions, deploying Raúl Jiménez and Uriel Antuna.

But El Tri’s attacking woes continued, and Argentina finished in the ascendancy, ultimately doubling their lead through a spectacular curled effort from Enzo Fernández in the 87th minute. La Albiceleste closed the match out with ease and ultimately earned a win that puts them in second place over Saudi Arabia based on their superior goal difference.

As for Mexico, they must beat the Green Eagles in their next outing, while also benefiting from an Argentina win over Poland, to even have a shot at reaching the knockout stages. Anything else will see El Tri fail to survive the group stage for the first time since Argentina won their first World Cup way back in 1978.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Lionel Messi (Argentina)