On the day Messi did not play, Lautaro Martinez scored both goals to help Argentina win 2-0 against Peru. La Albiceleste ended the group stage with a winning record, and Peru was eliminated.
Messi was injured and did not play against Peru. Instead, coach Scaloni (who was also suspended) used the attacking trio of Garnacho, Lautaro Martinez and Di Maria in attack.
Despite playing with many substitutes, Argentina still controlled the match completely. They did not give Peru a chance to attack.
However, La Albiceleste proactively did not play quickly in the first half. That made the match not too attractive.
Anyway, Argentina is scary in that they always find a hero. Lautaro Martinez turned the match against Peru into his own stage.
The Inter striker scored both goals for Argentina in the match in the 47th and 86th minutes to help his team win 2-0.
Notably, Lautaro Martinez is Argentina’s most prominent star in this year’s tournament, contributing 4/5 goals (90%) of the home team.
With this result, Argentina won the ticket to continue with a winning record. They scored 5 goals and have not conceded a single goal. They will meet the second team of Group B in the quarterfinals.
Canada followed Argentina to reach the quarterfinals. This team drew 0-0 against Chile in the match at the same time and ranked second in Group A with 4 points. Chile and Peru were both eliminated in the group stage.