Qatar Data: Mbappe unplayable, Messi brings relief to Argentina

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Argentina celebrating their huge goalProfimedia

The big question on the seventh day of play at the world cup in Qatar was clear: could Argentina, led by the legendary Lionel Messi, cope with the pressure caused by their opening defeat and stay in contention to qualify for the round of 16? Before we get to that, let’s take a look at day’s other matches here on Qatar Data.

Qatar Data 27/11

Livesport / Opta by Stats Perform

Tunisia and Australia opened the day's programme, and there had been a lot of media attention about whether Australia could get a win - they had been waiting to win a match at the World Cup since 2010 and had suffered seven World Cup defeats in a row.

As you can see, against Tunisia, Graham Arnold's team attacked mostly down on the right side, which was the route of almost half of all their attacking forays. The only goal for the Australians, however, came paradoxically from the left.

Australia attacking thirdsOpta by Stats Perform

Striker Mitchell Duke took advantage of a deflected cross from Craig Goodwin to end his team's 12-year wait for a World Cup victory. The forward from Japan's Second League plays for Okayama, and he is also the first player from a lower league to score at this year's tournament.

Duke was clearly the player of the match. In addition to scoring the goal, he also had the most shots and dominated his duels. And it was really thanks to his clever header that Goodwin was able to record an assist as well.

See Tunisia vs Australia at Flashscore

The Saudis, who had surprisingly beaten Argentina in their first match of the tournament, went into the clash with Poland knowing that they had lost nine out of ten matches when playing European teams at the World Cup.

Unfortunately for them, that streak continues thanks in large part to two Polish heroes. The first was goalkeeper Wojciech Sczezsny, who was the third goalkeeper in the tournament to save a penalty when he did so at the end of the first half and he went on to keep a clean sheet in the game as well.

Throughout the game, the Saudis had the upper hand, and from a neutral’s perspective, they seemed to be the better team, dominating virtually all team statistics. Interestingly, the referees did not call a single offside in the whole game.

Poland v Saudi Arabia statsOpta by Stats Perform

The Poles, however, were better at the most important thing - scoring goals. Both Polish goals were created by Barcelona star Robert Lewandowski, He set up the first one for Zielinski and then in the 82nd minute, he scored to make it 2-0. It was his first-ever goal in a World Cup match and it was clear that this one meant a lot to him.

The popular ‘Lewa’ hit the bar in addition to his goal and was present in everything important that happened at the Al Rayan Stadium. Thanks to largely his performance, Poland now have more than a 70 per cent chance of progressing out of their group.

See Poland vs Saudi Arabia at Flashscore

The clash between France and Denmark was the third match between these two during this calendar year. The Danes came out on top in both previous encounters but this time out the French dominated. Key to their success tonight was the scintillating performance of Kylian Mbappé.

The Parisian completely dominated the left side of his attacking half and dismantled the Danish defence with complete ease. Mbappé scored twice, securing the 2-1 win and ensuring that France are the first team at this year's World Cup to book their place in the round of 16.

The PSG striker currently shares the top of the goalscoring charts with Ecuador's Enner Valencia - with three goals apiece. Moreover, his goals in the match made it seven goals at World Cups for Mbappe and he has now surpassed French legends, Zidane and Platini, in that respect. The sky really is the limit it seems for Kylian.

See France vs Denmark at Flashscore

Argentina went into the game with Mexico knowing that if they lost, they would be out of the tournament. But that wasn’t to be. It was their talismanic captain Lionel Messi who steered his team to an important win with the first goal after an hour of play. It was a quiet game from the maestro, but he came up trumps when they needed him the most.

He equalled Diego Maradona in both World Cup starts and goals in this game, scoring his eighth goal in his twenty-first World Cup match. The living legend’s strike was then followed up by Enzo Fernandez stunning goal to keep Argentina's hopes of qualification well and truly alive.

Argentina weren't great though, and the match itself has the lowest xG rating in the tournament so far. Not a vintage performance by either team. But that won’t bother Argentina one bit. As they say, a win is a win.