World Cup 2022: Mexico out but Poland through on 'crazy day of football'

One of the most dramatic nights at the World Cup will be the last games in Group C.

Poland and Mexico were level on points, goals, conceded and goal difference after Mexico beat Saudi Arabia.

Mexico were on the verge of being the second side after Senegal to exit from the fair play rule after collecting seven yellow cards to Poland's five.

A goal by Mexico would have completed the swing necessary for an unlikely progression into the round of 16.

Mexico had failed to win their first two games and the hope of a revival was ended by Salem Al Dawsari's goal.

The man is responsible for the disappointment. "I assume all the responsibility for the huge failure, it is sad and I will leave after the tournament," said Argentine Martino, who will step down after the tournament.

We could have scored a lot of goals if we had played better.

We failed and I don't believe we were knocked out in the previous matches.

Mexico exit at the group stage for the first time since 1978, ending a run of eight straight occasions of progressing to the knockout stage, while Poland will face defending champion France on Sunday.

'We knew we were going out'

The game at Lusail Stadium ended in the same fashion as the one at Stadium , with the score being the same.

When asked if he knew the outcome of the other game, he said yes. We went for the third goal to add two centre- forwards.

It was necessary when we knew that Poland had fewer yellows.

The results of the Argentina and Poland games meant that we were still out of the tournament.

The Polish boss said that they had an agreement that only him and the technical staff would be watching the Mexico match.

When Grzegorz Krychowiak was booked, fair play was already taken into account and my heart stopped a bit.

We didn't have control of the game and couldn't make a substitution because of the second yellow card, so we had to make a substitution."

When it was 2-0, I was told by my technical staff that there was only a difference of two or three yellow cards.

We are going to play France because of the mistake of Krychowiak.

They were told to avoid talking to referees and to avoid stupid cards.

'Madness - such a good game of football'

Saudi Arabia fans filled the metro, the boulevard and the stadium in the hopes of seeing a victory that would allow them to advance to the knockout stage.

More than 60,000 Mexicans are expected to be at the game, with more than 150,000 supporters crossing the border for the game.

Both sets of fans in green were disappointed at the end of the game.

Mexico's loss to Lionel Scaloni's side and the goalless draw against Poland were costly as Mexico finished bottom of the group.

The Mariachi band behind the goal tried to get the ball into the net one more time, after Henry Martin's goal and Luis Chavez's stunning free-kick set their small number of fans alight.

Mexico players embraced each other at the final whistle knowing their journey was over, while fans sat in their seats long after the final whistle with some in tears of disbelief.

Gary Lineker said it had been a crazy day of football with the twists and turns.

"I think it's madness," said the former Wales defender. It was a great game of football, no matter who was in it.

Tears of celebration for Poland

Andy Cryer is a sports reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Alex Mac Allister put Argentina in front early in the second half against Poland, and there was no doubt who was the winner.

The players on the pitch for most of the second half were not worried about Poland's survival. They were just hanging on and hoping they didn't lose by more than the 2-0 score.

The small pocket of Poland fans who were drowned out by the Argentine support were not unaware of the drama being played out.

The majority of them were spending more time on their phones than they were watching.

When Mexico scored their second and Argentina made it 2-0, many of the Poles had their heads in their hands.

Argentina had a chance to score in injury time and knock Poland out of the tournament, but they missed the chance.

The players and staff were watching the game and the fans were cheering. Poland was safe on goal difference because Saudi Arabia had pulled a goal back against Mexico in the last minute.

If Mexico had scored a goal, Poland would have been knocked out and there would be more pain before the final whistle.

Fans hugged each other, some players ran around in celebration, and others sank to the floor knowing they had gotten very, very lucky.

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