Wojciech Szczesny reveals €100 bet with Lionel Messi before Poland vs Argentina penalty | OneFootball

Wojciech Szczesny claims he put a €100 bet on with Lionel Messi before a controversial first-half penalty was awarded following a VAR review during Poland’s 2022 World Cup group game against Argentina.

To the surprise of many fans and pundits alike, Dutch referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot after reviewing the potential penalty on his pitch-side monitor.

Szczesny caught Messi while trying to clear the ball with his outstretched arm in mid-air. Messi headed the ball but it wasn’t a clear goalscoring opportunity.

The Argentina captain went down holding his face and the penalty was subsequently awarded.

However, Szczesny pulled off an excellent save from Messi’s spot-kick to keep the scores level at the half-time whistle.

What has Szczesny said about saving Messi’s penalty?

“I immediately told the referee that I touched him (Messi) with my hand in the face, but I only hit him on the side of his face. I told him there was contact but I don’t think there is a penalty. The referee decided otherwise and that’s fine – I got to show off,” Szczesny, the former Arsenal goalkeeper who joined Juventus in 2017, was quoted saying by Goal.

“Now I can say that I knew where Messi would shoot, but at the time I wasn’t so sure. Leo looks at the keeper on some penalties and hits hard on others.

”I knew that if he was going to hit hard, it would be more to my left. I saw that he was not stopping, so I went, I sensed, I defended. I’m happy because that penalty gave something in the end. Very big satisfaction. I owed it to the team.”

What was Szczesny and Messi’s bet?

During a separate interview with TV 2 Sport, Szczesny said, per the Daily Mail: “No I didn’t [think the penalty would be given].

“We spoke before the penalty and I told him I can bet him €100 that he wasn’t going to give it.

“So I’ve lost a bet against Messi. I don’t know if that’s allowed at the World Cup. I’m probably going to be banned for it. I don’t care right now.”

He added: “And I’m not going to pay him either! He doesn’t care about €100, come on!”

Asked if Messi already has enough money, Szczesny said: “Yeah, I think so.”

Video: Szczesny reveals bet with Messi

Watch the video here:

What happened in the second half?

While Szczesny denied Messi, he wasn’t able to prevent Alexis Mac Allister from giving Argentina the lead early in the second half.

Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez then doubled Argentina’s lead in the 67th minute.

Who do Poland and Argentina play next?

However, Poland still clinched second spot in Group C thanks to their superior goal difference over Mexico.

They will now take on France in Doha on Sunday.

Argentina, meanwhile, go head-to-head against Australia one day earlier in Al Rayyan.