Schmid and Friedl beaten by Argentina

Austria’s second group stage match at the FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA ended in defeat. Despite a hard-fought performance, Austria fell to a 2-0 loss to defending champions Argentina. Romano Schmid started before being taken off in the 76th minute, with Marco Friedl being brought on in the 67th minute. 

The first big chance of the match came in the third minute of play at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, as Lautaro Martinez was brought down inside the box by Xaver Schlager and Stefan Posch. After a lengthy VAR check, the referee pointed to the spot. Lionel Messi stepped up to take the penalty, but dragged his shot just wide the target (9’). 

Austria continued to look for ways forward, but struggled to create much against the reining world champions. A well-worked move then saw Argentina take the lead just before the break, as Messi slotted a slot past goalkeeper Alexander Schlager (38’). It was his 17th goal at what is his fourth World Cup, taking him past Miroslav Klose as the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer. 

The second half remained evenly matched, as Austria fought valiantly to find a way back into the game. Messi added a second goal in the fifth minute of second-half injury time, netting his fifth goal at this World Cup. 

The 67th minute saw Marco Friedl come on for his World Cup debut, as he replaced David Alaba. Friedl and Schmid shared the pitch for a few minutes, before the latter was taken off in the 76th minute. 

With the win, Argentina have secured themselves a spot in the next round. Austria, meanwhile, will need to avoid defeat in their final group stage match against Algeria in order to keep their hopes alive (Sunday, 28th June at 04:00 CEST).