Saturday (November 26) proved to be a record-breaking day in the recent history of the FIFA World Cup as Argentina beat Mexico in front of 88,966 fans. While Lionel Messi and Co were in search of salvation, after a defeat to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, that had left them shell-shocked. The crowd then witnessed a true act of class from Messi after he scored one of the goals of the tournament. So how did he manage to do that in front of the record crowd?
Messi-ah for Argentina
Before the start of the contest, the two-time champions knew that a defeat could all but end their World Cup dream and so was the scenario until the 64th minute as the affair against Mexico was goalless. But then steeped in Messi, who piled a shot from the range with pin-point accuracy to beat goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to open the scoring in front of 88, 966 fans at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail.
What would have happened if Messi had not scored?
While Messi’s goal set the tone, Endo Fernandez’s goal was the icing on the cake in the final five minutes. But had Messi, not scored in the 65th minute the tie would have reached in a goalless manner for the last 15 minutes and had Mexico found the back of the net, it would have been curtains for the former champions. However, Messi’s goal ensured that there were no such worries in the final 15 minutes had Argentina not scored. Things could have been nervous, but thankfully first Messi and then Fernandez made sure of the three points.
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Qatar registers record crowd
The Lusail Stadium north of Doha, which will stage the final on December 18, hosted the most people at the World Cup since 1994 final in the United States, according to FIFA. There were 91,194 people at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, to see Brazil beat Italy in that penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw.
Saturday's attendance was several hundred more than the figure for the two previous games at Lusail Stadium, when Brazil beat Serbia and Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia. Qatar's attendance figures do not rank in the top 30 of all-time World Cup matches. The largest crowd was 173,850 inside the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in 1950 for Uruguay's 2-1 victory over host Brazil in the final game of that tournament.
Other stadiums figuring in the top-30 list are the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, Wembley Stadium in London and the Camp Nou in Barcelona.
