The first match of the knockout stages will see 2-time World Cup winners Argentina facing off against 1-time winner France in what looks to be the match to look forward to in the round of 16 fixtures. All eyes will be on Lionel Messi as Argentina take on France in the FIFA World Cup 2018 Round of 16 on Saturday. Both teams have had contrasting path to the last 16. While France qualified comfortably top of Group C, Argentina scraped through Group D with a last gasp win. Both sides have remarkable offensive qualities; they are yet to show their full potential. While Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann have been in goal scoring form for Les Bleus in Russia, Lionel Messi’s brilliance means Argentina always have a chance despite their chaotic performances so far.
Argentina’s road to the knockout stages was far from comfortable as they started off their campaign against Iceland in a lacklustre draw that saw Lionel Messi missing another penalty kick as well as being manhandled by the Icelandic players after a Sergio Aguero goal had given Argentina the lead. The lead only lasted for 4 minutes as Iceland drew level as Alfred Finnbogason scored for Iceland resulting in the match ending 1-1. The second match saw Albiceleste facing off against a Croatian side high on confidence, after winning their match 2-0 against Nigeria. In one of the shocks of the tournament, Croatia outclassed the Argentinians 3-0 to leave them at the mercy of a Nigerian victory over Iceland.
With a lifeline offered by Nigeria, as they won 2-0 against Iceland Argentina prepared for their match against Nigeria with Lionel Messi taking the mantle from their coach Sampaouli, with a victory and nothing else separating Argentina from the knockout stages. It was the man himself, their Messiah, Lionel Messi who scored the first goal of the match. Nigeria soon drew level as Victor Moses cooly tucked home a penalty after Mascherano was deemed to have fouled a Nigerian player inside the box.
The final minutes of the match saw Argentina mounting attack after attack in search of their elusive girl which would take them to the knockout stages. Finally, they broke through as Marcus Rojo scored the decisive second goal of the match as whole Argentina celebrated their goal. The final whistle of the match ended with Argentina 2 Iceland 1 with Argentina qualifying to the knockout stages as runners-up in Group D.
