Argentina conquered Australia, 2-1 in the Round of 16 to qualify for the quarterfinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The game was played at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan city.

The South American nation opened the scoring following a brilliant goal from team captain Lionel Messi. This was also Messi’s third goal of this year’s competition. It was the seven-time Balon d’Or winner’s first goal in the knock-out stages of any World Cup he has played in. He made his 1000th appearance for club and country in the game, becoming the second Argentina player to achieve this feat after Javier Zanetti did so previously in 2011.

Also Read: Watch: Enzo Fernandez’s own goal stuns Argentine goalie Martinez in FIFA World Cup 2022 knockout vs Australia

He also overtook legend Diego Maradona to become the country’s highest goal scorer at the prestigious football tournament with nine goals. Another unique feat that the 35-year-old achieved as the game completed was Messi has now won the most FIFA Man of the Match awards with eight which is more than any other player in the competition’s history.

Julian Alvarez scored the second goal on the night for the Latin American country. This was his second goal of the tournament after scoring one earlier in the final group game against Poland.

Australia tried to make a comeback in the game following an own goal from mid-fielder Enzo Fernandez but it was too late by this time.

Also Read: Julian Alvarez gifts Argentina second goal vs Australia in 2022 FIFA World Cup Round of 16: Watch

In the post-game interview, Messi said,” “It was a controlled match. Putting aside the last one (save) by Dibu (Martinez), we didn’t suffer too much.”

 ‘This bond is something beautiful. This is how the national team should be. We were excited and eager to be on the pitch again with these people,” the PSG superstar added.

Argentina is the second side after the 2006 Italy team to defeat the country from the continent of Oceania in the Round of 16 phase.

Argentina will face Netherlands in the next round on December 10. The Dutch side is coming off a thumping 3-1 victory over the USA in the same round.