What Argentina need to qualify for the World Cup Round of 16: All possible outcomes
Lionel Messi and co. lost their first match but managed to get back on track with a victory against Mexico. Will they go through?
Before the start of the World Cup, it would have been almost impossible to imagine Argentina being kicked out of the competition in the group stage.
However, this edition of the tournament has proved to be very unpredictable and has taught soccer fans that any team can emerge victorious, no matter what their difference in talent is.
Besides the shocking defeat of La Albiceleste to Saudi Arabia, probably the worst side in the tournament, the feeling was that Lionel Scaloni’s men would struggle to come back and keep their chances of qualifying.
However, they managed to survive and have a chance of progressing after their hard-fought victory over Mexico last Saturday (2-0).
Argentina: how can they qualify?
Argentina are sitting second with three points, one less than Poland, while Saudi Arabia are tied with the Argentinians and Mexico are bottom of the standings with one point.
Argentina’s path to the qualifying rounds is now way more possible than one week ago, after their defeat in the opening game.
Defeating El Tri in a do-or-die game gave the South American squad the chance of depending on themselves to book a spot among the world’s best 16 teams.
Argentina will automatically qualify if they defeat Poland in the third and last game of the group stage. If they do, they have a good chance of progressing as the leaders in Group C, as they have the goal difference advantage over Saudi Arabia (+2) and over Mexico (+3).
The two-time World Cup winners will also advance if they draw against Poland and Mexico and Saudi Arabia share the spoils in their game.
If Argentina lose their match against Robert Lewandowski’s team, they will be knocked out of the competition, as either Saudi Arabia or Mexico will go through instead.