Poland vs Argentina LIVE: World Cup 2022 team news and line-ups as Messi and Lewandowski start

Argentina play Poland in both teams’ final Group C game at the World Cup 2022 in Qatar this evening.

Poland enter this match atop Group C on four points, having played out a 0-0 draw with Mexico in their tournament opener, before beating Saudi Arabia 2-0 as Robert Lewandowski scored his first ever World Cup finals goal.

Meanwhile, Argentina began their campaign with a shock 2-1 defeat by the Saudis, before bouncing back with a 2-0 victory over Mexico – with captain Lionel Messi scoring once in each fixture – to put them on three points.

Neither Poland nor Argentina has yet booked their spot in the last 16, but a win for either would secure them a place in the knockout stages – unless the Argentine team win and Saudi Arabia beat Mexico by a greater scoreline. A draw would also send both of these teams through if the Saudis draw with Mexico.

Argentina XI: Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Acuna; De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Mac Allister; Messi, Julian Alvarez, Di Maria

Poland XI: Szczesny; Bereszynski, Glik, Kiwior, Cash; Frankowski, Bielik, Krychowiak, Zielinski; Swiderski; Lewandowski

Onto the next game! Poland vs Argentina.

Here are the starting line-ups...

Here are a few examples from Karl Matchett’s player ratings:

“Mat Ryan, 8. Two big first half saves were scrappy and unorthodox but ultimately effective. Very calm claiming high balls.

“Harry Souttar, 8. The top Socceroo of the tournament so far, no question. Didn’t need to be as relentlessly powerful as against Tunisia but still made a few big challenges.”

“Andreas Christensen, 6. Had to do so much more for the goal. Didn’t get tight to his man, didn’t close off the angle of the run and didn’t block the shot. Good in possession and in the air but given the minimal amount needed in defence the rest of the game, this was the big one he needed to get right.

“Christian Eriksen, 5. Really quiet. Poor set-piece delivery for much of the game, never really had much in the way of chances to shoot and didn’t really get too many glimpses of his passing quality in the final third either.”

“There may have been bigger shocks at this World Cup but Australia became the first underdog to strike a knockout blow against one of the favourites. Ranked 10th in the world, Denmark contrived to finish fourth in a group containing the Socceroos and Tunisia. The side who led in the Euro 2020 semi-final were never in front in this World Cup and go out embarrassingly early, with one point and one goal to show for their trip to Qatar.

“Yet if they are underachievers, Australia’s endearing overachievers advance fair and square. They came to Qatar as one of the least fancied teams and a country with just two World Cup wins to their name.

“They have doubled that tally in their last two games and progress level on points with France. That may sound surreal but this was one of the great days in their footballing history. They earned their place in the World Cup in Doha, beating Peru in a play-off, and now they have still more fond memories of Qatar.”

Match report by Richard Jolly in Qatar:

Australia 1-0 Denmark: The Europeans had been hotly tipped to go far but thoroughly underwhelmed and were dumped out of the tournament after Leckie’s winding run ended in a bottom-corner finish