Wojciech Szczesny shed some insight on what went on leading up to his penalty kick save on Lionel Messi during the Argentina-Poland matchup.
Both teams secured their ticket to the knockout stages, with the Polish side advancing over Mexico due to a tiebreaker. However, the penalty proved significant in the early stages as Argentina and Poland wanted to avoid the second-place finish and a matchup against France.
Szczesny put a small wager that the referee wouldn’t award a penalty kick after needing to go to the Video Assistant Referee after the Juventus goalkeeper hit Messi with his glove while going for the ball in the air.
“We spoke before the penalty and I told him that I could bet 100 euros that he (the referee) would not give it,” Szczesny told reporters postgame on Wednesday. “So I lost the bet with Messi.
“I don’t know if it’s allowed at the World Cup, I may even be banned for it. But I don’t care. I’m not going to not pay him either (Messi). He doesn’t care about 100 euros. Yes, I think he doesn’t need it.”
Wojciech Szczęsny tells @tv2sport he bet Lionel Messi €100 the penalty wouldn’t be given and he will “probably be banned” for admitting this.😂 pic.twitter.com/VFBap9xPLy
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) November 30, 2022
Nonetheless, Poland would lose 2-0 and now has a date with Les Bleus on Sunday, with the winner facing either England or Senegal.
