Argentina vs Iceland Review

Argentina 1-1 Iceland

This picture pretty much sums up Lionel Messi's day playing against Iceland, who are the smallest nation to play at the World Cup, having missed a penalty and being held by the Nordic side. 

Iceland made their World Cup debut, and it couldn't be much harder game to play. Yet Iceland did what they do what they're known for, and upset the odds to draw with Argentina. 

Their disciplined, defensive tactics frustrated an Argentina side who enjoyed 78% of possession, yet also an attacking danger, with Birkir Bjarnason scuffing a glorious opportunity early on. 

Following that scare, Argentina controlled the game and their fans who tuned out in Moscow at the Spartak Stadium were lively and bouncing, celebrating Sergio Augero's fantastic finish after 19 minutes. 

Pre-tournament worries regarding the defensive abilities of Argentina were shown, and they lasted only four minutes and 15 seconds, as Alfred Finnbogason equalised making history  with his country's first goal at a World Cup finals.

The chance came after Finnbogason blew his lines with a poor header seconds earlier but Argentina failed to clear and Willy Caballero, coming in for injured first choice keeper Sergio Romero, could only palm Hordur Magnusson's shot into the path of the striker, who wasn't going to miss this time and casually dispatched his chance .

Messi's penalty miss was Argentina's only clear-cut chance in the second half, although Cristian Pavon's bouncing cross drew a quality save late on from Halldorsson.

VAR faced criticism twice in this game. Messi's cross floated into Meza who ended up on the floor following a challenge from Magnusson, yet many people felt the Argentine initiated the contact and therefore shouldn't have been a penalty. The second was in the second half, where Pavon went down under a challenge from the Icelandic defender in what appeared to be a dive, replays showed clear contact on Pavon and a penalty should have been given. The referee failed to give a penalty, and the decision wasn't reverted to VAR, a decision that has been widely questioned and criticised.