The round of 16 continues at the 2022 World Cup Saturday afternoon with Lionel Messi and Argentina face off against Australia. Argentina are heavily favored to win this match at DraftKings Sportsbook, but anything can happen in a World Cup knockout game. Australia are making a knockout round appearance at a World Cup tournament for the first time since 2006.
Here’s the latest updates from Argentina vs. Australia in the round of 16. The winner of this match will meet Netherlands in the quarterfinal round.
Argentina vs. Australia live updates
Full time – Argentina win 2-1 and will face Netherlands in the quarterfinal round.
90+6 – WOW! What a save from Martinez! Australia had a chance at an equalizer in the box and Martinez got a glove on what should’ve otherwise been an easy goal. Argentina still lead 2-1 and are now on the brink of sealing the deal.
90th minute – We’ve got seven minutes of stoppage time in this one. Argentina hope to hold on to punch a ticket to the quarterfinal against Netherlands.
85th minute – Argentina are a bit gassed at the moment, which could allow Australia to push forward and get the equalizer. There’s still an uphill climb for the Socceroos but this is a much closer contest than many anticipated.
77th minute – Goal for Australia! Craig Goodwin pulls one back for the Socceroos, who now have about 15 minutes to find the tying goal.
70th minute – Australia have started to push forward more in an effort to pull at least one goal back but this is an uphill climb for the Socceroos. They’ve been dominated for much of the contest and it’s hard to suddenly flip a switch and get going with 20 minutes left.
57th minute – Another goal for Argentina! This time it’s Julian Alvarez cleaning up an attacking move to put the South American side up 2-0.
53rd minute – Argentina might be getting a bit too comfortable. There was nearly disaster in the back line, as Argentina goalkeeper Emilio Martinez had to come to the rescue and prevent what would’ve been an easy goal for Mitchell Duke.
50th minute – Argentina look more relaxed playing with the lead, probing more in Australia’s final third. The Aussies are going to eventually open up more as they search for that equalizing goal, which could in turn give Argentina more opportunities.
Halftime – It’s 1-0 Argentina at the break courtesy of Lionel Messi and some retaliation play from Australia. The Socceroos have not threatened the Argentina goal much, and even Argentina didn’t have many good moves prior to Messi’s goal. It has been a game largely played in the middle of the pitch and it likely stays that way in the second half until Australia become more desperate.
35th minute – This game has started to get a bit chippy after Lionel Messi shoved off an Australia player when both ran out of bounds. The Aussies responded with a rough challenge on Papu Gomez on the ensuing throw-in. Argentina were able to get some movement off the free kick, eventually finding Messi in the box. He makes no mistake and it’s now 1-0 Argentina.
24th minute – It’s been a slow bleed so far, with neither team putting together any significant threats on the other’s goal. Australia have started to grow into the game and are pushing forward more but Argentina have been the more aggressive unit so far. Even they are being more methodical instead of simply throwing numbers forward.
9th minute – There was potentially a handball that didn’t get called early in the contest but both teams are still feeling each other out. Australia have remained compact and are not pushing much when it comes to attack, while Argentina are also being fairly methodical and trying to work the flanks.
Pregame – Here’s a look at the lineups for both teams. The big news for Argentina will be Angel di Maria getting benched for Papu Gomez. di Maria is likely going to come in off the bench at some point. Messi will start his 1000th career game as he begins what will be his final World Cup knockout campaign.
