- Argentina goal: Aguero (19')
- Iceland goal: Finnbogason (23')
- Next: Argentina-Croatia, Iceland-Nigeria
Hannes Halldorsson made six saves including a Lionel Messi penalty as Iceland held Argentina to a 1-1 draw in Moscow on Saturday in both sides’ World Cup openers.
Messi won a free kick in the fifth of five minutes of stoppage time, and his bid to join rival Cristiano Ronaldo as a last-minute hero went into the wall.
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Tagliafico nodded Messi’s ninth minute free kick wide of the goal, the second time Argentina tempted the goal in the first 10.
Iceland had its early moment, too, thanks to poor passing from Argentina in its final third. Birkir Bjarnason pushed wide his near post effort.
Messi just missed a chance before Aguero opened the scoring, creating space on his left and ripping a shot into the goal.
. @aguerosergiokun marcó su primer gol en el #MundialTelemundo y así lo cantó 🎙️ @AndresCantorGOL pic.twitter.com/JqGzLzx31s
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 16, 2018
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Messi tore into a 21st minute shot that didn’t turn enough to find the inside of the near post.
Yet it was Iceland who’d score next, with Finnbogason poking a rebound between Nicolas Otamendi’s legs to make it 1-1.
#MundialTelemundo @A_Finnbogason marcó el primer gol en la historia de #ISL y así lo gritó @AndresCantorGOL pic.twitter.com/93uOZde52p
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 16, 2018
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Messi opened the lid on a packed-in Iceland defense to find Aguero, whose heels were clipped to earn a penalty for Argentina.
But Hannes Halldórsson denied Messi’s effort to keep the score 1-1.
Messi had two more chances as the match stretched into its final 10 minutes.
Halldórsson then made his sixth save with an outstanding reaction stop on Aguero.
#MundialTelemundo ¡ #Messi perdona el penal y #ARG sigue sin poder superar a #ISL! pic.twitter.com/2q31iMNYol
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 16, 2018