Matchday 7 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup was a combative one, with every game hotly contested.
Match 21
Tunisia v Australia
Australia avenged their opening defeat to France with a 1-0 victory over Group D rivals Tunisia on Saturday night (AEDT).
Mitch Duke’s first-half header, coupled with some resolute defending, was enough to earn the Socceroos all three points and their first World Cup win since 2010.
Tunisia weren’t without chances but were ultimately unable to truly test Mat Ryan’s goal, thanks in large part to the performance of centre-back Harry Souttar.
Only three games removed from a knee reconstruction, Souttar displayed both poise on the ball and accuracy in the challenge to thwart any attack from the likes of Naim Sliti, Issam Jebali and Youssef Msakni.
The resulting clean sheet was Australia’s first at the finals since 1974 and has them in good stead ahead of their final group game against Denmark.
Match 22
Poland v Saudi Arabia
Poland got the edge over Saudi Arabia to pick up their first win on Sunday (AEDT), in a game where attacks flowed and it was hard to believe only two goals were scored.
Out to prove their massive upset over Argentina wasn’t a flash in the pan, Herve Renard’s Saudi Arabia side started with high energy, but it was Poland who looked the more polished and were rewarded in the first half.
Robert Lewandowski squared a low ball to the waiting Piotr Zielinski in the 39th minute and Zielinski finished strong to take a 1-0 lead, but that was to be challenged only five minutes later when the VAR awarded Saudi Arabia a penalty after Saleh Al-Shehri was felled in the box.
But Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny woke up with a clean sheet in mind, and made an incredible double-save on the penalty and the follow-up effort to keep his side’s lead intact, making more saves as the game went on.
Eventually, a lapse in concentration from Saudi midfielder Abdulellah Al-Malki was pounced on by Lewandowski in the 82nd minute, and the prolific forward notched his first-ever World Cup goal to seal victory for Poland.
Match 23
France v Denmark
France are the first side through to the Round of 16 after defeating Denmark 2-1 at Stadium 974.
A scoreless first half sprung to life in the second, with Kylian Mbappe finally breaking Denmark’s resistance on the hour following a neat one-two with Theo Hernandez.
The defending champions’ lead lasted only seven minutes, however, thanks to Andreas Christensen nodding home from a teasing Christian Eriksen corner.
Christensen’s equaliser seemed to lift De Rod-Hvide for the final 20 minutes and they very nearly took the lead through Jesper Lindstrom.
A draw looked likely from then on, that was until Mbappe buried Antoine Griezmann’s devilish delivery with few minutes remaining in the match.
Match 24
Argentina v Mexico
What was initially a dour affair between Argentina and Mexico was ignited by a bit of Lionel Messi brilliance in the second half.
Argentina were being bumped around and frustrated by a physical Mexico side until Messi produced an inspired bit of play, jinking before firing the ball low into the corner of the net from 20 yards in the 64th minute.
As Mexico began to open up with the deadlock broken, Enzo Fernandez go the ball short from a corner and curled in a brilliant first goal for his country in the 87th minute after coming on as a substitute.
Chances were few and far between for Mexico, the best of their efforts coming from a direct free-kick, met with a diving save from Emiliano Martínez.
The result leaves Argentina in with a chance at qualification after their shock loss to Saudi Arabia in their opening match.
