FIFA World Cup 2022

FIFA World Cup 2022: Skipper Messi and debutant Fernandez’s stunners help Argentina to outplay Mexico

Nov 27, 2022 3:10 am

Moving on from their shocking defeat against Saudi Arabia by a margin of 1-2, Argentina took on Mexico in their second match of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Lionel Messi’s men locked horns with the Mexicans in this match at Lusail Stadium in Al Daayen. It was a virtual encounter for Argentina as one more defeat was supposed to end their campaign only in the group stage of the 22^nd edition of this prestigious football quadrennial.

Speaking of starting Line-ups of both the teams, two-time World Champion La Selección came up with a plan of 4-4-2 at the time of kick-off. Whereas Mexico fielded a line-up of 5-3-2 in their second match of the tournament.

Moving ahead from this part, here we’ll have a glance at the complete action of this Group C match played in the stadium having a capacity of 80,000 people.

Debutant Enzo Fernandez follows the footmarks of his skipper Lionel Messi

Mexico kept themselves on the upper side of the clash in the first 45 minutes of the match as they went on to hit more shots than the Argentines. They compelled the 2014 World Cup runners-up to settle at an equal score of 0-0 when the referee came up with the whistle of half-time.

Apart from that Argentina was leading with a very less margin of 1% in pass accuracy in the first half. The match kept running without a single goal on the card till the first 19 minutes of the remaining 45 minutes out of the regulation time of 90 minutes.

But it was the 64^th minute of the match when their most celebrated right winger and skipper, Lionel Messi smashed a stunning field goal to take help Argentina take a lead in the match.

Every Argentine fan who was there in the radius of the Lusail Stadium was hoping for another goal for his favorite so that they can secure their win in this very crucial match of the tournament. This expectation was later fulfilled by the debutant Enzo Fernandez. The 21-year-old central midfielder came as a substitute for defensive midfielder Guido Rodriguez in the 57 minutes of the match. Eventually, Fernandez left everyone in shock with a match-defining goal in the 86^th minute of the match.

Eventually, Lionel Messi and Co. crossed the finishing line with a win of 2-0. They have also moved to the second spot in the points table of Group C of the FIFA World Cup 2022.