Day 7 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is officially in the books. Saturday began with Australia’s 1-0 win over Tunisia. After losing 4-1 in their Group D opener to France, Australia managed to put three crucial points on the board against Tunisia, putting the Socceroos in a strong position ahead of Wednesday’s final game of the group stage against Denmark at 10am ET . At the same time, Tunisia meets France.
The Bleus are the first team to reach the knockout stages after beating the Danes 2-1 thanks to a second-half brace from star Kylian Mbappe. Andreas Christensen had drawn level with the Scandinavians but Mbappe’s double shot his way to the top of the scorers’ list to oust Jean-Pierre Papin and Just Fontaine in the top scorers’ list. The French hotshot also equals Pele with seven World Cup goals for the most goals scored by a player under the age of 24 in tournament history.
After surprisingly losing to Saudi Arabia in the opening game, Argentina clinched a much-needed win over Mexico to get back on track and avoid an unexpected and incredible elimination from the group stage. Lionel Messi needed a brilliant long-range shot in the 64th minute to break through against a stubbornly defensive Mexico side. And then Enzo Fernandez put the game away in the 87th minute to seal the points.
Meanwhile, Poland beat Saudi Arabia for first place in Group C. Robert Lewandowski scored his first-ever World Cup goal while Wojciech Szczesny saved a double from a penalty. The results mean Argentina can control their destiny and win the group if they beat Poland.
As always, we’ll provide you with snippets of the day’s action below – and while you’re at it, sign up for our new newsletter here, covering the beautiful game in all its glory, including daily updates on the World Cup.
World Cup results, results
Saturday 26 Nov
Australia 1, Tunisia 0
Poland 2, Saudi Arabia 0
France 2, Denmark 1
Argentina 2, Mexico 0
Australia surprisingly resilient
The least announced game of the day quietly produced one of the more surprising results of the tournament. After bursting into flames in their opening game against France 4-1, Australia returned and endured a difficult test by beating Tunisia 1-0. That means the least noticed Australian team in recent times, a side who only qualified for the tournament by a hot run in their Last Chance qualifier against Peru, have their fate in their own hands. A draw against Denmark would do the job for the extreme underdogs. The result against Tunisia wasn’t pretty, but despite conceding 14 goals, they held Tunisia on just 0.94 goals expected, recouping a Mitchell Duke header in the 23rd minute.
Lewandowski finally gets his goal
The end result was comfortable for Poland as Piotr Zelenski scored at the end of the first half and Lewandowski scored an insurance goal at the end of the second half. Poland’s talisman needed just 136 games to score the coveted World Cup goal. But in the meantime, Saudi Arabia gave just as well – if not better – than they got. Football is a silly old game and the fact that Saudi Arabia scored twice on three difficult shots against Argentina means you can only smile ruefully considering they had 16 shots on target against Poland inclusive a penalty point and could not buy a goal. But be warned Mexico if they think the Saudis are easy opponents to finish the group stage, they will be in for a nasty surprise at the end of this group.
France looks impressive against Denmark
The game wasn’t as close as the 2-1 lead suggested. France took the game aggressively against Denmark, a side that had beaten the French twice in the Nations League in the run-up to this World Cup. Kylian Mbappe was again superb, scoring twice but perhaps the most notable development was Theo Hernandez giving up his second assist of the tournament from the left. Hernandez, the brother of Lucas Hernandez whose serious knee injury opened the door for the younger Hernandez to play in the first set, is a more offensive option. His stubborn overlaps have been unmanageable for teams in this tournament so far and they mark a style change for this French side. The team that became world champions four years ago were much more defensive and kept their full-backs in reserve. It’s possible that their ultra-offensive style won’t last, but it’s a refreshing change of pace for the defending champion. The reigning world champions haven’t gotten out of the group for 20 years, but France have already secured a spot in the knockout rounds. Hernandez’s injury forced a change of style and that’s one of the main reasons why they’re the first to win in Qatar.
Who besides Messi?
Argentina won, but it wasn’t a performance that inspires confidence. Mexico fouled the game, committing a number of fouls and effectively taking Argentina out of everything they wanted to do. To achieve that, Mexico sacrificed any semblance of attacking Argentina never doubted conceding a goal, but to win this tournament Argentina must find better ways to circumvent stubborn defensive performances. It took Messi a huge moment to clear the block and despite his 20-yard height, grass-cutting lasers don’t come along that often.