Argentina defeated Poland 2-0 to take the group lead, while Mexico overcame Saudi Arabia 2-1 but was out owing to a worse goal differential. Mexico knew they needed three goals, at the very least. Poland was conscious of their three-goal advantage. Poland had to deal with Messi, while Mexico had to take on a Saudi Arabia team that had just defeated Argentina. In both matches, everything happened as planned: Poland failed to attempt a single shot, was defeated by two goals and advanced to the Round of 16.

 

Mexico battled to the bitter end, scoring twice and attempting a third. But in the final few minutes of their tenure in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, they only conceded one goal. The various combinations and permutations that were being made. Then, they struck out as each score and saved altered the circumstances but were unlike any other World Cup group. The drama consumed the second part of both games.

 

The two games were scoreless going into the first half, but not for lack of trying. Even a well-placed mid-range shot at the goalkeeper’s left is not a statistically valid penalty to take, despite the consensus that it was a decent goal. Wojciech Szczesny quickly acquired it.

 

Mexico was firing at the goal from every conceivable angle and range in their encounter. Messi just lost one obvious chance.

 

Saudi Arabia played a high line and three backs, but Mexico countered with an average of four to five men savagely attacking Herve Renard’s charges. Each of Mexico’s more than ten attempts was parried, blocked, or bravely cleared by the Saudis at the end of the first half. The atmosphere in the group changed as the second half got underway.

 

Mexico struggled for the first 45 minutes in the other game until scoring a goal a few minutes later. Henry Martin kept his word by scoring in Saudi Arabia’s penalty area to make it 1-0. In the 52nd minute, El Tri added another goal, this time on a left-footed free kick that Luis Chavez raced into the goal to instantly turn the team around. Al Owaisi, the goalie, had no chance of stopping the ball as it crashed into the upper left corner.

 

At this point, Mexico still had one more objective to complete. On the other hand, if Saudi Arabia and Argentina scored goals to make it 2-0 in their favor, Poland would progress based on FIFA’s fair-play regulations. On the odd possibility that two teams in a group have equal points, FIFA’s fair play rules will be used.

 

If both teams were drawn against one another and had identical objective distinctions, the group with the fewest yellow cards advances to Round 16. Due to this rule, Senegal was required to leave the 2018 World Cup after receiving excessive yellow cards. Argentina chose to increase the group’s turbulence after Julian Alvarez’s strike placed Poland down by two goals in the 67th minute.

 

Now, Mexico had to score that third goal immediately. Otherwise, their World Cup run would be ended.

 

Before the tournament even started, it was widely believed that Mexican supporters had poor hopes for their squad. This judgment may have been correct, as evidenced by their disappointing 2-0 loss to Argentina and dreary 1-1 draw with Poland in their first two games. However, they threw everything at the Saudis in the final 40 minutes.

 

They scored in the 56th second, only for the goal to be correctly disallowed for offside. They again had a score disallowed for offside in the 86th minute. Argentina claimed first place in the group with a 2-0 victory over Poland in the first game to conclude. On camera, Polish spectators glanced tensely at their phones before returning to the playing field. Poland faced Saudi Arabia in the Round of 16.