Argentina’s effort to get past France in the first game of the Round of 16 looked likely to be unsuccessful for most of the first half. France were getting the better of the play, Antoine Griezmann hit the bar from a free kick and finally gave Les Bleus the lead from the penalty spot following a sloppy challenge from Marcos Rojo on Kylian Mbappe.
Argentina needed a little bit of magic to get them back into it, and surprisingly it didn’t come from the talismanic Lionel Messi, but from the oft-criticised mercurial attacker Angel di Maria. Receiving a cross-field pass from Ever Banega around 30 yards out, the former Manchester United star took one touch before hitting an unstoppable left-footed shot into the top left-hand corner of the goal.
French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was left with no chance, and di Maria had gotten his side back into the tie in the most explosive way possible with his first goal for Argentina in just over a year. It was the perfect way for La Albiceleste to go into the half-time break after a very slow start.