After being stunned by Saudi Arabia in their opening match, Argentina had to avoid defeat in their second group stage match against Mexico to stay alive in the FIFA World Cup. Despite being on the back foot for most of the game, Argentina scored twice in the second half to keep their Round of 16 hopes alive. Lionel Messi performed for his team and scored the opener from outside the box, a goal that was massively celebrated in Argentina, as well as in other parts of the world.
That said, a video of Argentine fans in Bangladesh celebrating Messi’s goal has been doing the rounds on social media.
This is the power of football@Argentina fans in Bangladesh celebrate Lionel Messi’s goal in the #FIFA world cup victory over Mexico last night??pic.twitter.com/HSE6JGGRsw
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) November 27, 2022
Messi’s goal meant he equaled fellow Argentina icon and two-time World Cup winner, the late Diego Maradona, with eight goals and 21 World Cup appearances for Argentina.
It came a day after Argentina marked the second anniversary of Maradona’s death.
The goals were two rare moments of quality in a pitiful and tense encounter where the opportunity seemed to come for all but seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi.
After Messi opened the scoring, Argentina made a few changes to add new legs, a move that paid off as Enzo Fernandez curled a delightful strike into the far top corner.
Notably, Fernandez became the youngest player to score a World Cup goal for Argentina since Messi in 2006.
However, Argentina has yet to win the final group game against Poland to guarantee a spot in the knockout stages.
Poland currently tops Group C with four points, having beaten Saudi Arabia 2-0 earlier on Saturday.
With AFP inputs
Featured video of the day
Lionel Messi takes part in Argentina training session after 2-0 win over Mexico
Topics mentioned in this article
