Algeria survive Austria thriller, Argentina await in the last 32

Algeria 3–3 Austria: through to the last 32

Your team are into the knockout round. Algeria 3–3 Austria on Saturday night, a match that had everything, and the point was enough. Both sides advance from Group J. Iran are out (1) (2) (4) (9).

A finish nobody will forget

Rafik Belghali pulled Algeria level at 1–1 right before half-time (1) (2). Riyad Mahrez made it 2–2 on the hour, answering Marcel Sabitzer's goal for Austria minutes earlier (1) (3) (11). Then the chaos. Austria went ahead again deep into stoppage time through Saša Kalajdžić, and Algeria equalised with the last kick of the match (1) (2) (7) (8). The corner that led to the final goal? It came off the post (17).

How the Austrian press saw it

Sky Sport Austria ran the headline: "Last-minute promotion! Kalajdzic shoots Austria into the round of 32 against Algeria" (3). The Austrian media called it a spectacle, a six-goal thriller, a wild group finale (2) (3) (7) (12). Nobody over there is pretending it was calm.

Argentina up next

The reward for finishing second in Group J is a round-of-32 tie against Argentina. Lionel Messi scored a free-kick in Argentina's final group match, his 19th World Cup goal, breaking yet another record (10). Algeria have already faced Argentina once this tournament, a 3–0 defeat in the opener. Different stakes this time.

Fan reactions

The Mahrez equaliser at 2–2 sent the Reddit threads spinning, you could feel the belief shift after Belghali's first-half goal had already steadied the nerves. By the time the late, late drama hit, the mood was pure disbelief. The consensus: that was the most chaotic Algeria match in years, and nobody is complaining. Watch Mahrez make it 2–2