Lionel Messi, who scored Argentina’s first goal in their 2-1 victory over Nigeria, said his side were always confident of victory.
Messi scored his first goal of the tournament in the 14th minute with an expertly taken shot. However, Nigeria were level six minutes after the restart, when Javier Mascherano fouled Leon Balogun in the area and Victor Moses stepped up to slot the resulting penalty past Franco Armani.
With the game ebbing away from Argentina, Gabriel Mercado crossed from the right in the 86th minute and Rojo turned the ball into the goal with a first time strike to spark wild celebrations from the Argentines.
There was relief on every Argentine face at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium when the final whistle was sounded. Diego Maradona, who cheered from the stands, led the celebrations as the two-time world champions brought out their A game in their match in Group D.
Messi, who looked off-colour against Iceland and Croatia, said his men were confident God was on their side.
“We already knew we were going to win, we were confident that God would help us, that all would turn out well,” Messi said. “But we didn’t expect the complication of the draw, of suffering so much. What’s important is that we went through.”
Argentina face France in the last 16 after finishing second in the group, while Croatia take on Group C runners-up Denmark. Nigeria and Iceland are out after finishing third and fourth, respectively.