Mexico beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 in their final group stage match but it won’t be enough to send El Tri through to the knockout stage.

Both Mexican goals came early in the second half. In the 47th minute, Henry Martín got on the end of an El Tri corner to get his team’s first goal of the tournament. Five minutes later, Luis Chávez scored on a booming free kick to make it 2-0.

A goal by Saudi Arabia’s Salem Al Dawsari in extra time all but sealed Mexico’s elimination from the World Cup.

In the other Group C match, Argentina defeated Poland 2-0. With these results, Poland and Mexico finish even on points but Poland had a better goal differential.

Argentina and Poland finish first and second in Group C and move on to the round of 16.

Poland, which advanced into the knockout stage for the first time since 1986, will next play France on Sunday, while Argentina will face Australia on Saturday.

The fate of Poland’s advance to the knockout stage rested on the result of the match between Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

After Argentina defeated Poland 2-0, Poland was level with Mexico on goal differential, and was going to the Round of 16 based purely on having fewer yellow cards (fair play points.)

Had Argentina or Mexico scored another goal, the outcome would have been different. But it was not meant to be.

Argentina advances atop Group C with Poland in the second spot. Mexico and Saudi Arabia go home.

Argentina has advanced to the Round of 16 after beating Poland 2-0 on Wednesday.

The Argentinians dominated the match and had several other near misses. Lionel Messi also failed to convert a penalty in the first half after Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny came up with a phenomenal right-hand save in the 39th minute.

Szczesny was spectacular in the first half, repelling Argentina’s attack time after time. The Polish keeper recorded a remarkable nine saves in the opening half.

In the second half, Argentina’s attacking prowess finally broke through in the 46th minute, when Alexis Mac Allister one-timed a cross from Nahuel Molina past Szczesny.

Julian Alvarez doubled La Albiceleste’s lead in the 68th minute with a shot to the right top corner for the score.

With the victory, Argentina advances out of Group C, winning it with six points. It will play Australia in the next round.

Despite the loss, Poland advances as runners-up and will next play France.

After a frustrating first half, Argentinian fans are ecstatic after the team scored its second goal of the evening. The stands are filled with white and blue stripes cheering.

This World Cup has been a roller coaster of emotions for Argentina and the team’s devoted fans. After being stunned in the first game by Saudi Arabia, Lionel Messi then led them to a win they desperately needed against Mexico.

Messi missed a penalty against Poland, but now that they’re winning the game 2-0, these fans can relax and enjoy the game.

There were fans with tears in their eyes when Alexis MacAllister put Argentina ahead at Stadium 974, this second goal by Julian Alvarez means they can start making plans for the round of 16.

Julian Alvarez scored Argentina’s second goal in the 68th minute of the match! The pressure is on Poland to open its account.

What’s at stake: At this moment, Poland and Mexico are even on goal differential. So Poland would advance to the Round of 16, based on fair play points, which is the number of yellow and red cards received by teams during the tournament.

But another goal from Argentina or a goal from Mexico in the other match would deny Poland a spot in the knockout rounds.

Mexico has taken the lead 1-0 over Saudi Arabia.

Henry Martín converts after getting on the end of an El Tri corner kick. It’s the Mexicans’ first goal of the 2022 World Cup.

The half-time rest did the Argentinians some good.

In the second minute of play, Alexis Mac Allister buried the ball in the net after an assist from Nahuel Molina.

Fans are out in full force cheering on their teams in two high-stakes matches on Wednesday. Poland is facing Argentina while Saudi Arabia takes on Mexico in the final matches of Group C.

Fans packed into the Qatar stadiums wearing their teams’ colors.

Here’s what it looked like inside:

Argentina dominated possession during the first half, which featured several exciting attempts at goal – and included a penalty kick by none other than Lionel Messi. But the team failed to convert any of the opportunities.

Poland’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was kept busy, with the match played mostly in the Polish half of the pitch. Szczesny made nine saves — including blocking Messi’s penalty kick.

The Polish attack has been lacking so far.

Mexico and Saudi Arabia are in a scoreless tie after the first 45 minutes of the match.

Mexico applied a lot of pressure in the first half but couldn’t find the final touch to get on the scoreboard. El Tri is still looking for its first goal at the 2022 World Cup.

In the other Group C match, Argentina and Poland are also knotted 0-0. If the results hold, Poland wins the group and Argentina finishes second. Both Mexico and Saudi Arabia would be going out.

Poland’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesky stopped a penalty kick from Lionel Messi in the 38th minute – after Argentina was awarded a penalty following a VAR review.

The referee awarded the penalty after Szczesky struck Messi in the face during an attempted save near the goal line.

Score remains Argentina 0-0 Poland.

Iran’s World Cup defeat to the United States was met by cheers and celebrations in Tehran and other Iranian cities on Tuesday evening, as protesters hailed the country’s exit from the tournament as a blow to the ruling regime.

The nation was eliminated from the tournament in Qatar after its 1-0 loss on Tuesday, ending a campaign that has been overshadowed by anti-government protests that have raged for months at home.

But there are concerns about the safety of the Iranian players returning home across the Persian Gulf, after the team initially refused to sing Iran’s national anthem before their first game in an apparent show of solidarity with demonstrators. The team’s families were also threatened with imprisonment and torture in advance of the match, a source involved in the security of the games said.

People in several Iranian cities celebrated from inside their homes and residential buildings moments after the final whistle, which came in the early hours of Wednesday local time, while videos posted on social media showed people honking their car horns, chanting and whistling.

“I am happy, this is the government losing to the people,” one witness to celebrations in a city in the Kurdish region, who CNN is not naming for security concerns, told CNN on Wednesday.

The Norway-based Iranian rights group Hengaw posted several videos of similar scenes. “People in Paveh are celebrating Iran’s national team lose over America in World Cup in Qatar, they are chanting ‘Down with Jash (traitors),” Hengaw said in a post.

Demonstrations have rocked Iran for several months, sparking a deadly clampdown from authorities. The nationwide uprising was first ignited by the death of Mahsa (also known as Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in mid-September after being detained by the country’s morality police. Since then, protesters across Iran have coalesced around a range of grievances with the regime.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief, Volker Turk, has said that the country is in a “full-fledged human rights crisis” as authorities crack down on the protests.

Football has become an increasingly heated flashpoint in recent weeks, with the World Cup throwing a global spotlight on the turmoil inside the country.

And fans following the team in Qatar have become increasingly conflicted about their support. “Our team has been hijacked,” longtime fan Farshad Soheil told CNN. “It no longer represents the people of Iran.”

Soheili said Iran’s regime has managed to politicize and weaponize the team, and was critical of the players for not making a grander statement about the protests. “It was a wasted historical opportunity,” Soheili said.

Ahead of Tuesday’s game, many supporters said they didn’t want Iran to win. “The reason is not because of football reason, [but] because of political reasons,” another fan called Farshid – who withheld his last name for security reasons – told CNN in Doha.

“I have mixed emotion(s) and feeling(s),” Farshid said. “I’m a passionate supporter of Iran but today unfortunately I can’t be supporter of the national team because of the current situation going on and the government trying to hijack the game and sport and using it as a platform to buy credibility and to show that everything is normal (with) what’s going on in Iran.”

Farshid said a lot of pro-regime supporters have also attended Iran’s World Cup games in Doha and created a very tense environment for other Iranian fans by attempting to interfere with their interviews with the media.

Iran’s national side would have progressed to the second round of the World Cup with a win or draw against the US, but the team will now travel home after its group stage exit.

“I’m really sorry on behalf of our players, our group, that we couldn’t get our opportunity to qualify for the next round,” midfielder Saeid Ezatolah told reporters after the game. “I hope our fans and our people in Iran, they forgive us. And I feel just sorry, that’s it.”

The team’s return will be closely watched amid fears that the players could face retribution for a perceived brief show of support for the protests, which drew international attention and praise from human rights groups.

The country’s flag and national anthem have been rejected by protesters as symbols of the current regime. And, following the refusal of Iranian players to sing Iran’s national anthem in their opening match against England on November 21, a source involved in the security of the games told CNN that the players were called to a meeting with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The source said that they were told that their families would face “violence and torture” if they did not sing the national anthem or if they joined any political protest against the Tehran regime.

The players sang the anthem on Tuesday, and before their second game against Wales last Friday, which saw 2-0 victory for Iran.

Hours before the game kicked off on Tuesday, Iranian authorities said a former member of the national soccer team, Parviz Boroumand – who was arrested this month over criticism of the government – was released on bail, according to state news agency IRNA.

Boroumand had been arrested in mid-November during protests in Tehran, Iranian media outlets reported. Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian-Kurdish footballer Voria Ghafouri was also released on bail.

Iranian football legend Ali Karimi, sometimes referred to as the “Asian Maradona,” has meanwhile said he has received death threats through his family members after he vocally supported protests.

The government has described him as one of the “main leaders” of the demonstrations, and issued a warrant for his arrest in early October charging him with “harmonizing with the enemy” and “encouraging riots,” according to Iran’s Supreme Council of the Judiciary, both charges that are punishable by death.