Argentina v Australia: World Cup 2022, last 16 – live | World Cup 2022

19 min Australia’s first good attack. Irvine gets to the byline on the left and cuts an excellent ball back towards Behich. He moves into the area but is tracked well by De Paul and eventually runs the ball out of play.

18 min “I currently have Covid and my heart rate is elevated,” says Amanjit Gill. “So I really REALLY need us to keep Messi out of our box. My life may depend on it.”

And people thought Bill Shankly was being sarcastic.

17 min Gomez cuts inside from the left and belts one into orbit.

17 min I know it’s a cliche, but this realise is like a training exercise: attack and defence, invasion and repulsion. So far Australia are doing really well, though there’s a helluva long way to go.

15 min Jackson Irvine is booked for an overzealous tackle on Acuna. He’ll miss the quarter-final if Australia get there.

14 min “Used to like Argentina, starting with the great Mario Kempes,” says Gene Salorio. “Passarella too, greatest thug ever, Maradona not so much. Now not at all because the incessant drumbeat for ‘blessed sainted most humble person ever Messi’ is even more tiresome than CR’s colossal ego. I’d even root for England against them.”

There’s a lot to unpick there.

12 min Alvarez has now started pulling out to the right, albeit with licence to roam. He wanders infield and then into the Australia area after a lucky ricochet, but Behich tracks him diligently and clears. Australia are defending well.

10 min A poor touch from Messi – a magnificently poor touch, the poor touch of a genius – allows Australia to break, but it’s soon snuffed out. They are really struggling to keep the ball.

9 min The game is fairly uneventful, which at least allows me to try to work out what formation each team is playing. McGree is definitely on the left wing for Australia, though I can’t quite work out Leckie’s position.

7 min Baccus leaves one on Messi near the centre circle. It’s all Argentina, though at the moment they are playing in front of Australia.

7 min Messi has started as a No10, with nobody on the right except the full-back Nahuel Molina.

6 min “The ‘I pity the fool…’ catchphrase is one of the best and most durable around from the 1970s, but I’ve always felt a little bit queasy about the BA Baracus character: a black musclebound simpleton there to do the bidding of cleverer and wilier white man. I don’t think it was even particularly okay back in those days, and you’d hope that it wouldn’t get onto screen nowadays.”

You think he was a simpleton? Bit racist.

5 min I think the ball hit Baccus on the chest and then ricocheted onto his hand. If so, that would explain by VAR weren’t interested.

4 min: Penalty appeal for Argentina. Gomez’s cross from the left hit what looked like an outstretched hand of Baccus just inside the penalty area. The referee wasn’t interested and play continues.

3 min Nothing to report as yet. Australia’s formation looks like 4-4-2, which is a slight surprise. I think Jackson Irvine is playing on the left wing.

2 min “Greetings from California,” says Mary Waltz. “Still mourning the US loss, but the Dutch schooled us, they were better. Argentina should carry this match easily. Australia’s possible advantage? The psychological pressure that Argentina are under to help Messi win a World Cup. If the Aussies can keep it goalless for a long period of time the blue and white may crack under the pressure.”

1 min Peep peep! Australia get the match under way, kicking from right to left as we watch.

“As a Socceroos fan, it’s been generally agreed that this is the weakest squad we’ve sent to the finals,” says Andrew James. “For them to match the achievements of our strongest one (2006) is testament to Arnie’s coaching. I don’t expect we’d beat Messi & co, but it’s a knockout game – anything is possible.”

The players line up for the anthems. There’s no doubt which side will feel at home tonight: the stadium is heaving with Argentina fans.

“I like watching Lionel Messi play as much as the next person, and I understand that there is a narrative about this being his final chance to win the World Cup to match Maradona, etc,” says David Wall. “But does his every action have to be made out to be evidence of his genius?

“After the game against Mexico all anyone wanted to talk about was his first touch to set up his goal. And yes, it was a good first touch, and he’d not have been able to get his shot away if it’d been bad. But it was nothing more than that. If that’s the mark of genius then what does that say about Takuma Asano on his way to score Japan’s second goal against Germany?”

This has been going on for ages. Messi’s first goal of the 2014 World Cup was an own goal by Mensur Mujdza, but everyone was so high on narrative that they gave it to him. There was almost an omerta surrounding it. I can understand all this Messiperbole, even if it is a bit infantile.

A reminder of the teams

Argentina (4-3-3) E Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Acuna; De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister; Alvarez, Messi, Gomez.
Substitutes: Armani, Foyth, Tagliafico, Montiel, Paredes, Pezzella, Di Maria, Rulli, Palacios, Correa, Almada, Rodriguez, Dybala, Lautaro Martinez, Lisandro Martinez.

Australia (4-3-3) Ryan; Degenek, Souttar, Rowles, Behich; Baccus, Mooy, Irvine; Leckie, Duke, McGree.
Substitutes: Atkinson, Karacic, Tilio, Wright, Maclaren, Hrustic, Mabil, Redmayne, Devlin, Vukovic, Deng, Kuol, King, Cummings.

Anyone following this game in Perth? What’s it like watching a crucial World Cup game at 3am on a Sunday morning? (Or 5.30am if you’re in Adelaide and 6am in you’re in Melbourne.)

“I pity the fool who thinks they know how this battle of the ‘A’-Teams will pan out,” says Peter Oh. “I’m pretty sure that some of these players are not ready to go home yet. How do you say ‘I ain’t getting on no airplane!’ in Spanish, and in Aussie English?”

The King

The only previous World Cup meeting between these sides was an intercontinental playoff in 1993. Graham Arnold played in it, as did Diego Maradona.

“I think the universe is paying us back for all the hard work we’ve done”

This is a really nice piece on what the Australian team went through just to reach Qatar, never mind qualify for the last 16. I think I’d like to work for Graham Arnold.

“Come on Harry!” says Joshua Reynolds. “The Stoke City faithful are thrilled. I’m happy I already have a cat named ‘Harry’ that I can console or congratulate with a shower of tuna-flavoured treats.”

Four channels we used to have

Lionel Messi plays the 1,000th game of his career tonight. He has scored 788 goals in that time, but none have been at the business end of a World Cup. It’s one of modern football’s odder stats that the Goat brothers, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, have never scored in a World Cup knockout game. This will be Messi’s ninth attempt.

Team news: Di Maria on the bench, Baccus starts

The team news should arrive just over an hour before kick-off. Both teams were highly impressive in beating Poland and Denmark, but the short turnaround – those games were on Wednesday – means there may be one or two changes.

Preamble