"Now another World Cup begins" - Lionel Messi in confident mood ahead of the FIFA World Cup knockout stages

Lionel Messi was seen in a confident mood following Argentina's 2-0 victory over Poland in their final group stage match at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday, November 30.

The two-time world champions topped Group C following their win against Poland with Alexis Mac Allister (46') and Julian Alvarez (63') getting on the scoresheet. Argentina, therefore, ended the group phase with six points from their three games, which included two wins and a shock defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia.

Lionel Messi is now looking forward to the knockout stages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner has termed the knockout stages as a different World Cup tournament altogether and hopes to carry the momentum they found in the group stage into the Round of 16.

Speaking after their 2-0 victory over Poland, Messi was quoted as saying the following (via Twitter):

"We must be calm and go game by game. Now another World Cup begins and hopefully we can continue to maintain what we did today."

#Qatar2022 🎙️ Lionel Messi: "Debemos estar tranquilos e ir partido a partido. Ahora empieza otro Mundial y ojalá podamos seguir manteniendo lo que hicimos hoy". https://t.co/mAfPX0eKt1

It is worth mentioning that Lionel Messi had a penalty saved in the first half by Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny when the score was tied at 0-0. Argentina, however, scored two goals after the penalty miss to send La Albiceleste through to the Round of 16.

Despite missing a penalty against Poland, Lionel Messi has been one of Argentina's key players in the group stage at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward has scored two goals and provided an assist from three outings in the tournament. This included a long-range goal against Mexico in a 2-0 win back on Saturday.

Whom will Lionel Messi's Argentina face in the Round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup?

Argentina are scheduled to face Group D runners-up Australia in their Round of 16 tie on Saturday, December 3 at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.

The Socceroos picked up a 1-0 victory over Denmark in their final group stage match to secure a place in the knockout stages of a World Cup for the first time since 2006.

Current RO16 games:

🇳🇱 Netherlands - USA 🇺🇸
🇦🇷 Argentina - Australia 🇦🇺
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England - Senegal 🇸🇳
🇫🇷 France - Poland 🇵🇱

Lionel Messi has faced Australia just once in his illustrious international career with Argentina. The former FC Barcelona skipper played against the Socceroos back in 2007 in an international friendly where he registered an assist in a 1-0 victory for the South American giants.

The winner of Australia vs Argentina will face either the Netherlands or the United States in the quarterfinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.