07:03 PM
2 min: Poland 0 Argentina 0
Di Maria is first to probe in Poland's box, and wins the opening corner. It's defended only as far as the edge of the box, before the ball flies back in to a leaping Otamendi. He can't get a decent head to it, and brings down Berezynski in the fracas.
There's a little bit of verbal between Otamendi and the Polish team, but the heat disperses quickly.
07:00 PM
Kick-off!
Poland get us underway in this final step before progression to the Round of 16 for the Group C teams.
Which players will stand out? Who falters? Follow along by adding your live player ratings here:
06:58 PM
Here come the players, and their anthems
Poland's anthem plays first, and the players put on an excellent performance in the face of the anthem's breakneck tempo. Szczesny, eyes closed, is particularly impassioned.
But the noise pales in comparison for the wall of sound that hits when the Argentinian anthem begins. Poland supporters are outnumbered tonight, by some number.
Two minutes to go until kick-off!
06:54 PM
Meanwhile, in the England camp
Some breaking news, as Ben White leaves the England set-up for personal reasons.
Read more here as this story develops.
06:52 PM
Flashes of red amidst the blue and white
06:48 PM
Make your predictions
This could be extremely close run... But one should never rule out Messi.
Share your thoughts using our match predictor here:
06:45 PM
A familiar face in Poland's starting XI
... belongs to Aston Villa's Matty Cash, who has started for all three of Poland's group stage matches at this World Cup, and put in consistently strong performances. Cash qualifies for citizenship through his mother's side, and gained his passport in September 2021, getting his first national team call up that November.
Since then, he's registered nine appearances, scored a goal, belted out the national anthem with gusto, and starred in a charming, charming Christmas advert.
06:38 PM
There's a lot of needle in Group C
As it stands, here's the table before kick-off:
Poland - 4pts
Argentina - 3pts
Saudi Arabia - 3pts
Mexico - 1pt
Poland can top the group with a win, but their progression is only in jeopardy if they lose; otherwise, they're fine.
Argentina can progress with a win, and have little to fear unless Saudi Arabia beat Mexico by a good load of goals, as they're currently two ahead on goal difference. Should they draw, however, or lose, and eyes will begin to drift to Mexico's match against Saudi Arabia. You can follow that match here too, and key developments will pop up here as and when.
06:34 PM
The players are out and warming up
06:27 PM
The moment Lionel Messi proved the Argentina shirt means as much to him as it did Maradona
Tom Morgan watched Messi take on Mexico, and reported on the changing tide as the No 10 steps up to stand alongside a nation's idol, Maradona.
Read more here.
06:22 PM
All for La Albiceleste
06:19 PM
All eyes on the superstars
Should Argentina seal progression to the Round of 16 this evening, it will be largely due to the efforts of Lionel Messi, who has dragged his team kicking and screaming to their important, but narrow, win over Mexico on Saturday evening. By contrast, Robert Lewandowski has had a muted competition as team talisman, which Szczensy proving the hero of the hour in Poland's rather more emphatic win over Saudi Arabia.
Both, therefore, are primed to prove the difference tonight: Lewandowski to add to his World Cup goal tally, his account only opened four days earlier, and Messi, to edge one step closer to emulating the immortal Diego Maradona.
06:10 PM
Team news
Poland: Wojciech Szczensy (GK), Matty Cash, Kamil Glik, Jakub Kiwior, Bartosz Bereszynski, Piotr Zielinski, Krystan Bielik, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Karol Swiderski, Robert Lewandowski (c)
Substitutes: Grabara, Skorupski, Gumny, Jedrzejczyk, Wieteska, Bednarek, Szymanski, Zurkowski, Skoras, Grosicki, Zalewski, Kaminski, Szymanski, Milik, Piatek
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez (GK), Marcus Acuna, Nicolas Otamendi, Cristian Romero, Nahuel Molina, Enzo Fernandez, Rodrigo de Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Lionel Messi (c), Angel Di Maria, Julian Alvarez
Substitutes: Armani, Rulli, Montiel, Martinez, Pezzella, Foyth, Tagliafico, Palacios, Almada, Rodriguez, Paredes, Gomez, Martinez, Correa, Dyabala
06:10 PM
Lewandowski vs Messi?
Crunch time in Group C. Argentina's shock defeat to Saudi Arabia on the third day of the tournament has had them playing catch up. Tonight they face group leaders Poland who drew with Mexico in their opener and rode to a 2-0 win over Hervé Renard's team.
This match pits two goalscoring veterans against one another: Robert Lewandowski, who has scored 77 goals in 136 appearances for his country, and Lionel Messi who has 93 in 167.
But Poland's head coach Czeslaw Michniewicz has sought to play down the battle of the talismanic forwards.
"Ever since the groups were drawn, the whole world has been waiting to see this match," said Michniewicz.
"It's a match between Poland and Argentina, not between Lewandowski and Messi.
"It's not tennis where they're going to play one-on-one and everyone will wait to see who serves an ace or a beautiful lob. Robert needs his team mates, so does Messi."
Poland top the standings on four points and will advance with a win or a draw. But they would be knocked out by a defeat coupled with a victory by Saudi Arabia over Mexico.
Argentina must avoid defeat tonight if they want to progress to the last 16. A draw may also send them through, although they would have to rely on Saudi Arabia not beating Mexico.
In short, only a win would guarantee qualification - although even that would not be enough if the Saudis win by a significant margin against Mexico.
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni said: "Obviously after a victory against Mexico, we are feeling better emotionally. We are on the right path now.
"Have we recovered our identity after the [Messi] goal? It depends on how you see it, because then we had to defend the result, whatever it took. That's football. It's tough.
"We're expecting a difficult match. Poland are a team that at times close well in the box and also create situations for you in the box. We have to see who's playing.
"It's different depending on who is there. Our idea is quite clear. We'll try to defend set pieces with concentration."
