Day 11 of the 2022 World Cup: real Argentina and relaxed France

It was a day full of sudden storylines. All four matches were far from a football extravaganza, but there were plenty of reasons to be nervous and surprised.

Tunisia - France - 1:0

The French made it to the playoffs after the second round, and therefore their mentor Didier Deschamps decided to rotate the squad. However, such a reserve, like the French, can be wished to everyone, and the team did not look relaxed. Purely statistically, the “roosters” played enough for a goal and for a victory. But they did not make any extra effort.

But the Tunisians made it - and scored, and won. At the 58th minute, Wahbi Khazri completed a dashing attack, started in the central circle, in a close confrontation, beating the French goalkeeper Steve Mandand. Antoine Griezmann almost saved the team by scoring in the 98th minute, but the goal was canceled due to offside. "Carthage Eagles", despite the victory, flew out of the World Cup, as the Australians won against the Danes and bypassed them. But the wards of Jalil Qadri have nothing to be ashamed of - they looked decent. And the French, who became the first in the group, are now rested and ready for new challenges.

Australia - Denmark - 1:0

Of course, in this tournament, the Danes were expected to do more than one point in three matches. Kasper Julmann's team, which conquered millions of fans at Euro 2020, is one of the top ten teams in the world, should have made it to the playoffs. But the faded game performed by Denmark did not disappear from the beginning to the end of the tournament.

In a duel with Australia, the Danes created the first dangerous moment only in the 95th minute, and even then Andreas Cornelius struck above the crossbar. And the Socceroos achieved victory thanks to a goal by Matthew Leckie in the 60th minute: he burst into the penalty area, removing a defender, and filigree rolled the ball into the far corner. The Australians will play in the playoffs sixteen years later.

Saudi Arabia - Mexico - 1:2

Both teams have earned the sympathy of the fans in this tournament - and both teams leave this tournament. In the reporting match, the Mexicans dominated, hit the Saudis on target ten times and scored twice at the beginning of the second half: in the 47th minute, Enri Martin, after a corner and a two-meter discount, sent the ball into the goal, and in the 52nd, Luis Chavez scored a magnificent goal with nine free kick.

Alas, the Poles, who played in parallel, missed little, and the Mexicans scored little, and even in stoppage time, Salem Al-Dawsari played one ball. It is a pity to part with two interesting teams, but such is the fate of the tournament. At least, "Rolls-Royces" from Saudi football players for the victory over Argentina, no one will take away.

Poland - Argentina - 0:2

Finally, we saw the real strength of the Argentina national team. The advantage of albicelesta was total: 73% of the time with the ball, 24:3 on shots and 10:0 on shots on target. Fans were looking forward to the duel between Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi, but Lewandowski did not actually show up for the duel, having not proved himself in this fight.

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, who parried a penalty taken by Messi, became the only decent player in the Poles. It was shortly before the break, and already in the first minute of the second half, the Argentines opened the scoring: Alexis McAllister neatly sent the ball into the top six. And in the 67th minute, a long attack ended with a powerful blow from Julian Alvarez in the top nine - and then everything became completely clear. Such Argentina is able to go far, but the Poles, most likely, will not go further than the 1/8 finals.