Group Stage: Four Group C teams battled it out until the last minute to determine the winner of the Argentina-Poland match.
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Group C was one of the liveliest groups in the group stage, especially after an epic comeback victory over Argentina in Saudi Arabia, which put the much-anticipated Argentina in a position where it might not be able to qualify.
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Fortunately, Argentina won their next two games against Mexico and Poland in a row, and although there were some bumps in the road, they are still at the top of the table.
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.. Poland and Mexico, on the other hand, are battling it out for the second spot, as expected.
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In the end, the two teams had the same record, Poland was better goal difference eliminated Mexico, but both teams obviously have their own shortcomings, and in terms of the final game is not in good shape, into the knockout rounds to be able to make a breakthrough chances should not be high. The bottom of the group of Saudi Arabia, although the account is 1 win and 2 losses, but lost the two games can be played in quite a way, and the opponents and your back and forth before losing, impressive. (Extended reading: [2022 Qatar World Cup] group stage full record summary)
The Round of 16 match: Argentina, the top of Group C, will face Australia, the second place in Group D. Both sides' lineups are quite different in terms of star power and thickness. Before the match, it was widely expected that Argentina would dominate the ball for most of the match, while Australia would mainly focus on stabilizing their defense and try to threaten the opponent's goal with counterattacks. Argentina played a 4-3-1-2 attack-oriented starting formation to facilitate the positional attack, but the actual effect was not satisfactory after the start, while Australia did not have much to offer in the attack, but still relied on solid defense to keep Argentina from scoring. It was not until the 35th minute of the first half that Argentina got a free kick on the right side of the field.
Lionel Messi (1987-), Argentine footballer
（Lionel Messi's direct shot was parried by the goalkeeper and the ball was back in Argentina's hands.
Lionel Messi (1987-), Argentine footballer
In the second wave of the attack, after a diagonal pass from the right to a teammate, he inserted himself into the penalty area and worked with central defender Nicolas Otamendi, and then shot directly into the net with his left foot, helping his team to open the record, and also the only goal of the first half of the two teams. In the second half, Australia increased their attack, Argentina replaced Lisandro Martinez (Lisandro Martinez) to play three center backs, freeing the first half of the delayed midfielder Enzo Fernandez (Enzo Fernandez) in a more forward position to control the field, Argentina's attack also slightly improved, but in the positional battle in the effect is limited, left and right can only be frequent long passes However, in the positional battle, the effectiveness was limited, and the left and right sides could only make long passes frequently, but it was still difficult to break through Australia's iron barrel formation, but it still relied on Julian Alvarez to extend the score advantage. In the 77th minute, Australia recovered a goal through an ould goal, and in the final stages of the game, they even pressed their center backs to use them as wingers, trying to equalize the score with a gamble, and almost scored in the last 30 seconds of the injury time, but luckily, the Argentinean goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, made a heroic save to prevent the team from being equalized. In the end, Argentina beat Australia 2-1.
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Elite Eight. (Extended reading: [Kada World Cup 2022] Full Record Summary of the Round of 16)
The final eight: the orange-clad Netherlands will face the blue-and-white Argentina in the final eight, with the Netherlands still playing the 3-4-1-2 three-guard formation that they used to specialize in, while the Argentina
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Lionel Scaloni made an unexpected change in formation, perhaps due to the shock of facing Australia in the previous game, and replaced center back Risandro Martinez in the second half to stabilize the defense, and the original 4-3-1-2 formation was changed to a more conservative 5-3-2 five-guard formation. In the first half, both teams started at a slightly slower pace, both still in the testing phase, and the ball God!
Lionel Messi (1987-), Argentine footballer
In the 35th minute, Argentina took a 1-0 lead when Nahuel Molina, who was playing in the center of the pitch, drew a number of Dutch players and sent a precise pass to the right side of the pitch, where Molina scored a one-touch goal. In the second half, Argentina continued the strategy of defensive counterattack, the Netherlands changed the formation to play four defenders to strengthen the attack, but empty possession without the threat of a shot on goal, and then by the Argentine left Marcos Acuna (Marcos Acuna) inserted into the penalty area raids caused the Netherlands right back Denzel Dumfries (Denzel Dumfries) a foul.
Lionel Messi (1987-), Argentine footballer
The penalty kick from 12 yards gave Argentina a 2-0 lead. However, Holland was dead horse at this time, the substitution of two airborne strikers Luuk de Jong (Luuk de Jong) and Wout Weghorst (Wout Weghorst) has received a miraculous effect, the latter first header to recover a goal, and then in the 90 + 10 minutes of injury time to seize the opportunity of free kicks, in the penalty box in front of the ground after receiving a pass into the far corner of the equalizer, the two sides into the extension of the match, 2-2. Argentina continued to press the Netherlands in the extended match, but both failed. The match went into a 12-yard penalty shootout, with Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis missing the first two points, and then Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal in the fifth point to make it a hard-fought match for Argentina.
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Final Four. (Extended reading: [Kada World Cup 2022] Full Record Summary of the Elite Eight)
