KATHMANDU, June 25: The second round of the group stages of the 2018 FIFA World Cup offered unpredictability, salvation for some big guns and still time left for one last battle for some teams going into the third and the last round of the tournament.

Lionel Messi converted a penalty as Argentina laboured to a 1-0 win over Chile in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday that put them back in the automatic qualifying spots for next year's finals in Russia.