Substitute Gonzalo Montiel scored the decisive penalty after a dramatic match at Lusail Stadium north of Doha, AP reported.

Argentina won the shootout 4-2 after Kingsley Coman and Aurélien Tchouaméni missed their penalties for France.

Argentina and France scored a goal each in extra time to make it 3-3.

Kylian Mbappé scored on a penalty kick with just a few minutes remaining of extra time. That’s a hat-trick for the Frenchman.

Lionel Messi scored his second goal of the match in the second period of extra time.

Argentina had a 2-0 lead against France at half-time in the World Cup final after goals by Messi and Angel Di Maria.

Messi scored on a 23rd-minute penalty kick after a foul on Di Maria. Thirteen minutes later Di Maria finished off a flowing team move involving a deft flick from Messi.

Mbappé made it 2-2 in the second half with two goals. Just one minute after scoring on the penalty the forward scored again, on a volley.

Messi now has 12 World Cup goals — the same as Brazil great Pelé — and is the first player to score in the group stage and every round of the knockout stage in a single edition of the tournament.

Messi is making a record 26th appearance at the World Cup, breaking a tie with Germany great Lothar Matthäus.

Messi’s games have been spread over five World Cups, starting in 2006. He has 11 goals in total, tied for sixth in the all-time list.

Messi has said this is likely to be his last World Cup.

The post Messi’s Argentina win 2022 World Cup appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Iran had lost to Poland 3-0 and Serbia 3-2 in their previous matches.

The Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner is a friendly tournament for the national teams, currently held every year and organized by the Hubert Wagner Foundation.

The first Memorial was held in 2003. The competition has been held every year since, except 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Iran participated in the four-team tournament as part of preparation for the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, where they have been drawn in Pool F along with Argentina, Egypt and the Netherlands.

The post Iran defeat Argentina at Hubert Jerzy Wagner appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post Argentina Hits 1 Million Cases of Coronavirus appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The quarantine in Argentina, which restricts non-essential workers from leaving their homes apart from to buy groceries or medicines, has seen the South American country’s streets virtually emptied, while its major grains industry has faced some disruption.

The tough measure was initially until the end of March. It will now be in place until the end of the Easter Holy Week, Fernandez said, which would mean it would be lifted on April 12, Reuters reported.

“We are going to extend the quarantine until the end of Easter. What do we aim to achieve? To keep the transmission of the virus under control,” he said in a televised message.

Fernandez added that the initial results of the compulsory isolation since March 20 looked “good”.

The country has recorded 820 coronavirus cases with 20 deaths, although the increase in cases has shown some signs of slowing in recent days.

The post Argentina Extends Coronavirus Quarantine Period appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The country’s main political parties have already chosen their nominees, so the primary election, known locally as the PASO, serves as the first concrete measure of voter sentiment after a slew of opinion polls showed a narrow margin between President Mauricio Macri and main challenger Alberto Fernandez.

Business-friendly Macri is hoping some recent glimmers of economic revival are enough to encourage voters to stick with him despite the current recession and biting inflation. Argentina’s country risk fell 20 basis points on Friday and local Merval index rose 7%.

For voters, sticking with him would mean seeing through painful cuts in public spending as part of the $57 billion standby agreement he negotiated with the International Monetary Fund last year.

Peronist candidate Fernandez, who has firebrand former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner as his running mate, has promised access to free medicines for retirees and better wages for workers while hammering Macri for the uptick in poverty and unemployment as the country grapples with recession and 55% inflation.

“I don’t think that in the face of another Macri triumph, things will improve. On the contrary, they will get worse,” said Pablo Vazquez, 48, adding that he is worried about losing his job and has noticed more homeless people on the streets, Reuters reported.

Investors, though, see Fernandez and Kirchner as a riskier prospect than sticking with free-markets advocate Macri.

As recent polls show the pair with a narrow lead, markets are bracing for the Fernandez ticket to come out ahead of Macri in Sunday’s primary, said Credit Suisse analyst Casey Reckman.

The severity of market reaction could depend on the margin of victory between Fernandez and Macri, and whether or not the winner netted enough votes to indicate a potential win in the first round of the presidential election in October, Reckman said.

In order to win the presidency outright in October, a candidate needs at least 45% of the vote or 40% and a difference of 10 percentage points over the second-place runner. If there’s no clear winner, voters will return for a run-off on Nov. 24.

A widened gap between Fernandez and Macri on Sunday could spook markets, prompting a new wave of volatility that sends the peso spiraling, further dimming Macri’s chances of re-election.

“It’s a question of whether Macri can continue to build support. The backdrop for his momentum has been the absence of financial volatility, the decline in inflation, improving confidence and some signs of economic recovery. This event could influence sentiment around that question,” Reckman said.

The post Argentines Head to Polls for Primary in First Macri, Fernandez Showdown appeared first on Iran News Daily.

However, Argentina proved themselves in the second set as they won it 25-20. Alarmed by the rival’s power, Iran ramped up efforts, defeating the South American team 25-22 in the third set.

One could not even blink during the breath-taking fourth set as it was full of rallies and spectacular performances from both teams. Finally, it was Iran who won the game-deciding set 34-32.

Amir Ghafour was the best scorer of the game with 26 points and Bruno Lima stood next with 18.

Iran is temporarily standing at the top of men’s VNL table with 13 points from five games while France, Brazil and Canada rank next.

Igor Kolakovic’s men will take on their traditional Asian rival, Japan, on Sunday which will be the final match of Iran in the second week of the event.

Pool 7 of the men’s category, comprising Iran, Brazil, Argentina and Japan, are holding their matches in the Week 2 of the VNL in Tokyo, Japan.

The post Iran beats Argentina 3-1 at 2019 VNL Week 2 appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post سفارت آرژانتين (Argentina) appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Macri slashed subsidies for public utilities and other services to reduce the country’s chronic fiscal deficit, pushing electricity and gas rates up more 2,000 percent since the start of his term, according to estimates by local media.

Rates are expected to increase even more this year.

“People can’t make ends meet. All the measures taken by the government go against workers,” Pablo Moyano, a leader of a union of truck drivers, said during the protest, Reuters reported.

Weekly demonstrations are planned through early February, increasing pressure on Macri to solve the country’s economic crisis ahead of a presidential election late this year.

Last year, when the economy contracted, inflation neared 50 percent and the peso lost close to 50 percent of its value, Macri reached an unpopular deal with the IMF for a $57 billion lifeline in exchange for a commitment to cut the deficit.

The protesters on Thursday, who witnesses estimated numbered at least 20,000, carried effigies of Macri and signs that read “Enough of the Macri/IMF austerity program” as they marched past the city’s obelisk monument toward Congress.

A union of truck drivers and a federation of workers’ unions organized the protests. Members of leftist political parties and independent Argentines have joined in.

The post Tens of Thousands March in Argentina against Macri’s Austerity appeared first on Iran News Daily.

According to the local media, Iran could EARN USD 600,000 from the friendly matches with Argentina and Colombia, scheduled to be held in New York and Washington in November.

Homeyra Asadi, head of the International Affairs Department of FFIRI, says that the Swiss company lining up these friendlies has not good resume.

“We received an email from Sport Global Management (Sport GM SA) but I think the email should not be published by the media. In that email the matches had been scheduled for November in the U.S. but we had to examine the request for security reasons. Also, we understood that the Swiss company has not a good resume,” Asadi said in an interview with Islamic Students News Agency (ISNA).

Tasnim news agency also published another email from the company in which Iran could play Argentina and Colombia in Vancouver and Toronto respectively with a match fee of USD 500,000.

Carlos Queiroz, Iran national football team head coach, had said if the news was right, he would walk on his knees until Dubai, the UAE.

Maybe there’s a contradiction because it seems Queiroz has not found out about the friendlies.

FFIRI did not have enough clearance about the warm-up matches.

Iran, who will play Uzbekistan in Tashkent on Tuesday, have not played a strong team since four years ago when Team Melli met Sweden and Chile.

Iran have been grouped with Iraq, Yemen and North Korea in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

The post Iran football federation unclear about Argentina friendly appeared first on Iran News Daily.

But Rojo made a surprise appearance in the box to turn home a cross from Gabriel Mercado from the right with a crisp side-footed volley in the 86th minute to send the Argentine fans in Saint Petersburg — including the watching Diego Maradona — into raptures.

The Manchester United defender had escaped conceding a second penalty for Nigeria minutes earlier after a controversial VAR review.

“It is marvellous to have won it in this manner. It is a deserved joy,” Messi said in quotes on Argentina’s official Twitter account.

“We knew God was with us and wasn’t going to let us go out.

Their struggles came after their pre-tournament preparations were wrecked by controversy and poor form, coupled with a reliance on a top-heavy, limited squad.

The Argentine federation was even forced to confirm that Jorge Sampaoli would continue for the final group game amid rumours of a rift between players and coach.

At the drama played out in Saint Petersburg, 1,500 kilometres (950 miles) away in Rostov-on-Don, Croatia snuffed out the challenge of Iceland, scoring late through Ivan Perisic to seal a 2-1 win and complete a perfect group stage.

Croatia were already through to the last 16 and coach Zlatko Dalic rested most of the side that thumped Argentina 3-0, with only captain Luka Modric and the winger Perisic keeping their places.

“Our goal is achieved,” said man-of-the-match Badelj. “We are top of the group and we are ready to compete in the second round of the World Cup.

Earlier, France and Denmark produced the first goalless match of the tournament in front of 78,000 spectators at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Didier Deschamps rested goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and midfielder Paul Pogba among six changes and his side struggled to create any clear-cut chances against a determined Denmark.

Deschamps immediately switched his focus towards what he called the “second competition” after the uninspiring contest.

“There’s a second competition that’s going to start, the last 16 is straight elimination,” said the coach, who must now prepare his players to face Messi and Argentina.

“There’s a mountain in front of us now. But we’re there and we’re full of ambition to get to the next stage.”

Australia will go back to the drawing board after they ended bottom of Group C with a solitary point following a 2-0 defeat to Peru, who are also heading home.

Andre Carrillo and Paolo Guerrero, the veteran who was only cleared to play days before the tournament after having a ban for taking cocaine lifted, scored in Sochi.

Tim Cahill, the 38-year-old Australian midfielder, came on as a substitute for his first appearance in his fourth World Cup but was unable to influence the outcome and the Socceroos will have to look to the future with talents such as 19-year-old Iranian-born Daniel Arzani.

The post Messi’s Argentina save World Cup hopes with last-gasp goal appeared first on Iran News Daily.