World Cup diary: Day 11 - Scottish names on the scoresheet in Qatar while Messi misses but Argentina march on, glory for Socceroos, agony for Mexico and France reserves lose to Tunisia

Scotland may not have qualified for this World Cup, but day 11 of the competition had something of a tartan tinge to it.

It was the day when players called Leckie, Mac Allister and Martin scored vitally important goals for their country - surely one of them must have a granny from Auchtermuchty?

As it turned out, Matthew Leckie scored the goal that sent Australia through to the last 16 while Alexis Mac Allister is an Argentinian with Fife ancestry whose crucial opener paved the way for his country's 2-0 win over Poland to seize top spot in Group C.

And we can't even lay claim to Henry Martin, who netted Mexico's opener against Saudi Arabia in a dramatic 2-1 win.

Aberdeen-born, former Ross County defender Harry Souttar was also one of the star performers on the day as he helped Australia snuff out the Danes - how did Harry slip through the Scottish recruitment net?

Of course we are aware of many Scotland connections in the Australia squad, and it was a glorious day for the Socceroos as they reached the second round for the first time since 2006.

Taking on the much fancied Denmark, who won Scotland's qualifying group with ease, a tense contest was decided by a moment of brilliance from Leckie, who weaved forward and clipped a left-foot shot beyond the clutches of Kasper Schmiechel.

Souttar was a rock in the heart of the Aussie defence to thwart a disappointing Denmark who limped out of the tournament with only a point to their name.

Australia manager Graham Arnold revealed the recipe for his team's success story: "No celebrations, no emotion, sleep, no social media."

Could that disciplined approach guide the men from Down Under to a shock result against Leo Messi and his Argentina superstars in the next round>

Certainly the Argies appear to have bounced back from their stunning loss to Saudi Arabia, posting 2-0 wins over Mexico and Poland to win their section.

Messi was making his record 22nd appearance for Argentina in a World Cup - breaking Maradona's record - and incredibly it was also the 999th competitive match of his glittering career. He will clock up the thousand against the Aussies.

He should have marked the occasion with a goal, albeit one tainted by controversy.

Poland keeper Wojciech Szczesny reached out to try and palm away a cross intended for Messi's head, with the Argentina superstar brushed by his arm in the process.

A ridiculous VAR decision awarded the desperate Argentinians a penalty kick, but justice was seen to be done when Szczesny produced one of the finest spot kick saves in World Cup history to deny Messi.

Brighton midfielder Mac Allister did find the net in the second half with his first international goal and young Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez netted a superb second to clinch the contest.

Unbeknown to Argentina, another goal would have handed their friends in Mexico a huge favour as they were also defeating Saudi Arabia 2-0 at the same time, putting the battle for second place in the group on a knife edge.

The Mexicans, through goals by Martin and a breathtaking 30-yard free kick by Luis Chavez, were tied dead level with a Poland side losing 2-0, with points and goals scored and conceded absolutely identical.

In such circumstances, FIFA use disciplinary records in the competition as a determining factor and with Mexico having accumulated more bookings than Poland, they looked destined to exit the tournament purely on a yellow card count - how harsh would that have been?

As it was, in pushing for a third goal, the Mexicans left the back door wide open and Saudi Arabia sneaked through to score a stoppage time goal which dumped 'El Tri' out of the World Cup by a very fine margin.

Poland will now play France, whose manager Didier Deschamps rested nine of the players who started Saturday's 2-1 win over Denmark for the final group match against Tunisia.

While the likes of Mbappe and Giroud may be fresher for the bench experience, the move didn't do wonders for team morale as Les Bleus slumped to a 1-0 defeat to the North Africans, who couldn't prevent their exit from the tourney.

One of the French superstars Antoine Griezmann played the later part of the game and scored what appeared to be a 96th minute equaliser, later ruled out by VAR.

France may well have too much for Poland in the last sixteen and if the same is said for England's match with Senegal on Sunday, a thrilling cross-channel quarter-final lies in store.