LUSAIL: Lionel Messi’s Argentina recovered from a shock loss against Saudi Arabia to thwart defenceless Mexico 2-0 to keep their FIFA World Cup 2022 campaign alive.

Argentina’s star player and skipper Messi ended the deadlock with a vital 64th minute strike to put former champions on track of a much-needed victory.

Following Messi’s magic, Enzo Fernandez joined the scoring with a sublime strike when he received the ball from Messi following a short-corner routine and executed a couple of stepovers before dispatching the ball into the top corner with a curling effort.

The triumph powered two-time champions Argentina to the second spot in the Group C standings behind leader Poland.

Mexico, on the other hand, who are yet to taste a triumph in the ongoing World Cup sank to bottom but are still in race for the Round of 16 berth.

Argentina have still a major task ahead of them as they take on Robert Lewandowski’s Poland in their last group match on Thursday (December 1), while Mexico will lock horns with Saudi Arabia on the same day.