Day 7 -- Messi Equals Maradona

DAY 7 Saturday

Messi Equals Maradona, A Day After His Death Anniversary

Australia Vs Tunisia. Mitchell Duke's goal takes Australia to 1-0 win over Tunisia. Mitchell Duke scored the lone goal of the match between Australia and Tunisia in the 23rd minute. They played superbly all over the pitch and defended brilliantly throughout to earn a first World Cup win since 2010.

Win is Australia’s first World Cup victory in 12 years at a Group D match at Al Janoub Stadium, Al-Wakrah for their first win of the tournament. The side, which had suffered a 4-1 loss to France in its opening game, gave a neck-and-neck fight to Tunisia before Mitchell Duke scored the only goal of the game to put Australia in the driver's seat.

Tunisia just weren't good enough on Saturday and didn't get anywhere near the levels they found against Denmark in their first game. They had a few decent opportunities but can't have any complaints with this result and now know they've got to go and beat France to stand a chance of qualifying here. Stranger things have happened but that's a tough task.

In the next match Robert Lewandowski gets first World Cup goal as Poland beat Saudi Arabia 2-0. Piotr Zielinski scored the first goal in the first-half. The Poles led when Piotr Zielinski smashed home the opener late in the first-half. Robert Lewandowski made sure by scoring his first World Cup goal late on

Al Malki was caught dwelling on the ball in a dangerous area and Lewandowski picked his pocket before scoring his first World Cup match. Saud Abdelhamid made a daunting run down the left, beating a couple of players. His pass was intercepted but fell to Al Malki, who placed his effort just wide of the far post. 

Before kick-off Hervé Renard, the Green Falcons’, i.e. KSA's French manager denied that Saudi Arabia’s government had gifted his players a Rolls Royce apiece in recognition of their achievement in beating Argentina last week.

Robert Lewandowski was worthy of his big World Cup moment but the keeper Wojciech Szczesny, was the real hero as he made a vital penalty save to deny Salem Al-Dawsari.

France registered a 2-1 win over Denmark. Kylian Mbappe got both the two scruffy second-half goals for France at Stadium 974 as the reigning champions booked their place in the knockout stages with a game to spare. 

Denmark played a very good game. They attacked France bravely and intelligently. They controlled long periods. They defended their lines brilliantly at times.

France became the first team to qualify for the knockout stages, and even if they are yet to dominate they have already shown more than enough to serve notice on the rest of the competition. You can match their effort. You can thwart their tactics. But they’ll still always have Kylian Mbappe. With 44 minutes gone at the vast, craning, wildly over-engineered Al Janoub Stadium, Kylian Mbappé did something extraordinary, perhaps even unique in modern World Cup history. Basically, he missed an open goal from six yards out. No great shakes. It happens. Ball, bounce, angles, collisions. The most chilling aspect of this France team is that they can cut you in so many ways. Crosses from the full-backs, intricate triangles into the channels, the long ball for Dembele or Griezmann or Olivier Giroud, the counterattack, the diagonal run, the set piece, the bench.

Les Bleus entered the game having come back from a goal down to defeat Australia 4-1 in their opening game. Olivier Giroud scored a brace in that game, becoming France's joint all-time top scorer. Kylian Mbappe and Adrien Rabiot scored the other two goals.

Denmark, on the other hand, were involved in a goalless draw against Tunisia in their opening game in the World Cup. Despite dominating possession and hitting the target five times, the Danes were unable to secure the win. They were eager to change that in this game.

Both France and Denmark made a decent start to the game as they shared possession equally in the first period. However, Les Bleus attempted far more shots on goal as they took 13 shots but hit the target just thrice. The Danish attempted two shots but failed to hit the target. And this concludes all in the game. France emerges supreme!!!

Argentina Vs Mexico has been a treat to eyes. Lionel Messi’s strike was all Argentina needed in 2-0 win over Mexico. Saturday at the World Cup featured the return of Lionel Messi and Argentina, who battled Mexico to a standstill before breaking through on a goal by Messi that guaranteed they won’t be going home early.

Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez gave Argentina a 2-0 lead in the 87th minute with a beauty of a goal. The 21-year-old midfielder received a pass from Lionel Messi off a corner, used a nifty dribble to shake a defender and then tucked a right foot shot into the far right corner of the net. Mexico’s keeper Guillermo Ochoa was in solid position, but Fernández’s shot was perfectly placed. With six minutes of stoppage time, Argentina is moments away from a huge win.

Messi equals Maradona for most FIFA World Cup appearances for Argentina. Both Messi and Maradona now have 21 World Cup appearances. The landmark comes a day after the death anniversary of Diego Maradona, when the two-time World Cup winner passed away two years ago, on November 25, 2020.

The 35-year-old Messi also surpassed the record of former Barcelona and Argentina teammate Javier Mascherano, who was previously second with 20 appearances on the biggest stage of international football. 

In terms of appearances from other teams, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller (both of Germany) are second with 17 appearances among active players in the 2022 World Cup.

Sergio Ramos, who held the record for Spain till 2018, did not make it to the squad this time and is also on 17. However, 35-year-old Messi is unlikely to play in the 2026 edition of the tournament.

That was all in four games on day 7 of FIFA WC 2022 worth commenting on.