Lionel Messi was pushed into the middle of a joyous post-match huddle as Argentina's players jumped up and down to celebrate reaching the World Cup quarterfinals.
Messi delivered again for his country, marking the 1,000th game of his era-defining career with his first goal in the knockout stage of a World Cup to lead Argentina to a 2-1 win over Australia on Saturday.
This was not the walkover most were expecting, though.
At the final whistle, Argentina was just as grateful for the goalkeeper as the No. 10 with magic in his boots.
Emi Martinez came up with a sprawling save in the last seconds of an increasingly anxious match for Argentina to prevent the need for extra time and the potential of another shock in a World Cup that has been full of them.
"We gave it everything," Australia striker Jackson Irvine said through tears, "but it wasn't enough."
With a flourish of his famous left foot in the 34th minute, Messi put Argentina ahead with his third goal at this year's tournament and ninth in total at the World Cup -- one more than Diego Maradona.
Julian Alvarez pounced on a heavy touch by Australia goalkeeper Mathew Ryan to tap into an empty net for the second goal as Argentina set up a meeting with the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.
Australia scored a 77th-minute consolation goal when Craig Goodwin's shot deflected into the net off Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez. Amid late pressure from the Australians, there was a chance for Garang Kuol to send the game to extra time but his shot was smothered by Martinez.
For Australia's squad of unheralded players, it proved to be a match too far at a tournament in which the team has exceeded expectations by reaching the knockout stage for only the second time. Australia also lost in the last 16 in 2006, to eventual champion Italy.
Maybe it's an omen for Argentina, which has fully recovered from its shocking loss to Saudi Arabia in its opening group match and won three straight games.
As for Messi, he now has 789 goals in a career that might yet reach a crescendo on Dec. 18 by winning the soccer's biggest trophy in his fifth and likely last World Cup.
The dream is still alive for the seven-time world player of the year and the tens of thousands of Argentina fans who dominated the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, massively outnumbering the small pockets of green-and-gold-clad Australia supporters and making it feel like a match in Buenos Aires or Rosario.
After Messi's goal, the Argentina fans bounced, swayed and twirled their scarves in joyous celebration of their favorite player's latest piece of ingenuity.
He had been quiet until that point, crowded out by a compact and defensively solid Australia team. He's never quiet for long, though.
Messi sent a pass inside to the edge of the area and kept running, eventually receiving a lay-off from Nicolas Otamendi to take one touch and stroke his finish through the long legs of Australia defender Harry Souttar -- the tallest outfield player at the World Cup.
And when Alvarez added the second, it looked like Argentina was going to cruise to victory. Messi started putting on a show and one 40-meter (yard) dribble wowed the crowd as he slalomed past three defenders and was tackled just as he was about to shoot.
"MESSI! MESSI!" came the chant.
This was no walkover, though, with Australia mounting a stirring fightback in the final 20 minutes, even putting Souttar up front in stoppage time for his aerial threat.
A late bombardment of high balls nearly paid off, with two Argentina players falling on top of Martinez after his dramatic late save.
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
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A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Black youth in Canada face multiple barriers in getting access to mental health services — and health-care providers can make the situation more difficult, experts say.
Saing Chhoeun was locked out of his Charlotte, N.C., home on Monday as law enforcement with high-powered rifles descended into his yard and garage, using a car as a shield as they were met with a shower of gunfire from the direction of his neighbor's house.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
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Protesters donned rain ponchos and huddled in tents at a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Toronto on Friday as they faced wet and windy conditions during the second day of a demonstration calling on the school to distance itself from Israel.
A francophone man in British Columbia convicted of sexual assault will get a new trial because he was not informed of his right to be tried in French, the Supreme Court ruled Friday.
Two baby bald eagles have hatched in Toronto, just weeks after a bald eagle nest was spotted in the city for the first time ever.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
A new pilot program which will notify the public of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse people is set to be implemented in Manitoba.
An Israeli incursion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gazans at risk and be a huge blow to the aid operations of the entire enclave, the U.N. humanitarian office said on Friday, as the World Health Organization announced contingency plans for an incursion.
Donald Trump's 2016 campaign was seized with worry about the potential political damage from a tape that showed Trump bragging about grabbing women sexually without their permission, longtime Trump adviser Hope Hicks testified Friday at his hush money trial.
Police ordered pro-Palestinian protesters to clear out of a tent encampment at New York University early Friday, a move that follows weeks of demonstrations and police confrontations at college campuses nationwide that have resulted in more than 2,300 arrests.
Just like the Olympic athletes, the cyberwarriors that will be crucial for the success of the Paris Games are deep into training for the big event.
Spain scrapped an annual bullfighting award on Friday, prompting a rebuke from conservatives over a backlash against a centuries-old tradition they see as an art form but which has run into growing concern for animal welfare.
A zebra that escaped from a trailer east of Seattle last weekend remained on the lam Friday, as authorities closed off trailheads at a nature area in hopes of keeping people away and easing her capture.
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Foreign interference by China did not affect the overall results of the 2019 and 2021 general elections won by Justin Trudeau's Liberals, a federal commission of inquiry has found.
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Black youth in Canada face multiple barriers in getting access to mental health services — and health-care providers can make the situation more difficult, experts say.
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Google's preeminence as an internet search engine is an illegal monopoly propped up by more than US$20 billion spent each year by the tech giant to lock out competition, U.S. Justice Department lawyers argued at the closings of a high-stakes antitrust lawsuit.
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China on Friday launched a lunar probe to land on the far side of the moon and return with samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side.
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Quebec singing legend Celine Dion has praised a Montreal DJ for creating a mashup featuring one of her songs with U.K. producer Majestic.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
One of the organizers of a month-long boycott of Loblaw-owned stores says she met with the grocer's president and CEO Per Bank on Thursday afternoon.
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Ontario is set to clamp down on bad employers with big fines. Labour Minister David Piccini says his government will introduce legislation next week that will see fines increased for violations of the Employment Standards Act.
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Italy's Ministry of Health has banned the popular wellness trend of "puppy yoga" amid concerns that the puppies used in the practice could be exploited and mistreated.
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Rolls-Royce is vastly expanding its factory in Chichester, England. The BMW subsidiary is adding five new buildings with construction planned to start next year.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
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A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
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Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
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Quebec semi-pro soccer team CS Saint-Laurent is set to face off against Toronto FC in the 2024 Canadian Championship in five days.
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'
The Edmonton Oilers will face the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the National Hockey League post-season after Vancouver advanced with a 1-0 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 6 Friday, winning the best-of-seven opening-round series 4-2.
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Fishery officers seized nearly 30 kilograms of elvers at a Yarmouth County, N.S., holding facility on Wednesday, arresting three people in the process.
Winnipeg police say they have arrested two people in their 20s after a large amount of explosives were found in a home outside of Winnipeg, Man.
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RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
Premier Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party has received millions of more dollars in donations compared with rivals ahead of this year's election.
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More than 100 teachers at the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) are learning they have been declared surplus will likely be out of a job as of Aug. 12.
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People living in Puslinch, Ont. may have the answer to why their water smelled so bad last year.
A lesser known fixture of Saskatoon's skyline is coming down for repairs and renovations.
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Richelieu Hardware Canada Ltd. was fined a hefty $260,000 for a workplace safety violation leading to a serious worker injury.
The jury deciding the fate of a man responsible for a fatal firebombing in Sudbury found him guilty of three counts of first-degree murder Friday afternoon.
Three men from southern Ontario and a man from Texas have been fined a total of $16,700 for illegal hunting and fishing in September 2021.
A New Hamburg family is feeling deflated after buying a new Toyota hybrid truck.
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Municipal funding is running out for a temporary shelter program that serves homeless Londoners.
It looked like most other art exhibits, but the works on display at Fanshawe College were part of a healing process for the artists.
A trial date has been set for an Ontario senior facing allegations of historical sexual offences involving children.
On Thursday night, 30 firefighters battled a destructive fire that broke out in a facility in Bracebridge Ont.
A driver was handed a three-month licence suspension for allegedly speeding while impaired on Highway 11 in Muskoka.
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A lesson learned at school saved a life Thursday.
A wet and muggy start to the weekend is expected across Windsor-Essex.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
When Damon Langlois visited the beach as a boy, he never would have imagined how significant sand would become in his life.
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Search and rescue crews have been called in after a vehicle belonging to a missing senior was located near a rural intersection outside of Kelowna Tuesday.
Animal shelters across the province are finding themselves frequently at capacity -- or more.
Lethbridge police say impaired driving is to blame in a fatal crash that killed a 25-year-old man on Thursday.
The bell at Erle Rivers High School in Milk River, Alta., will ring for the last time on June 26, as the 114-year-old school is scheduled to be torn down to make way for a new K-12 school.
The de-rostering of thousands of patients at the Group Health Centre in Sault Ste. Marie was the centre of attention at a town hall Friday organized by the Algoma chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition.
The Chi-Cheemaun ferry arrived at Manitoulin Island on Friday morning to kick off its 50th season on the Georgian Bay.
Phase 1 of the reconstruction of Queen Street in downtown Sault Ste. Marie is getting underway, although it will be scaled down from the original plan.
A funeral is being held today for hockey broadcasting legend Bob Cole in his hometown of St. John's, N.L.
Richard Martin is spending this year's fishing season on land after he says a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer broke his left leg in three places during a protest last month that shut down the provincial legislature.
Tributes continue to pour in for Bob Cole as his family has confirmed a funeral will be held for the legendary broadcaster Friday in St. John's, N.L.
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