By The Associated Press

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany – Portugal fielded its “‘B” team and still won.

Mexico also won, in a way. Its 2-1 loss to the Portuguese didn’t hurt when Angola couldn’t beat Iran on Wednesday, allowing the Mexicans to advance to the second round of the World Cup.

Portugal won all three first-round games in Group D. It got goals by Maniche and Simao Sabrosa in the first 25 minutes, and Mexico’s Omar Bravo missed a chance to tie on a second-half penalty kick that soared over the net.

Kikin headed in a corner kick to put Mexico back in the game before halftime. But Bravo’s goof and a second yellow card for Luis Perez with 30 minutes to play stymied the Mexicans.

Portugal will play the second-place team from Group C, either the Netherlands or Argentina. Mexico gets the Group C winner; the Dutch and Argentines met Wednesday night.

Mexico advanced for the fourth straight World Cup.

Ivory Coast 3, Serbia-Montenegro 2

MUNICH, Germany – Another 2-0 deficit wasn’t enough to stop orange-clad Ivory Coast from stomping away in its elephant dance.

Taking advantage of two handballs by Milan Dudic that led to goals, Ivory Coast beat Serbia-Montenegro 3-2 Wednesday night on Bonaventure Kalou’s penalty shot in the 86th minute.

Aruna Dindane scored the Elephants’ other two goals in a game as thrilling as it was sloppy, with thunder and lightning over head and explosive play by two teams that had already been eliminated.

The first penalty shot by Dindane, who played sparingly as a reserve in Ivory Coast’s 2-1 loss to the Netherlands last week, cut the Elephants’ deficit to 2-1. He then headed in the tying goal in the second half.

Kalou scored the gamewinner to give Ivory Coast its first World Cup victory.

Argentina 0, Netherlands 0

FRANKFURT, Germany – In his debut as a World Cup starter, Lionel Messi did everything but give Argentina victory.

It didn’t matter. In a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands on Wednesday, the Argentines confirmed their role as title contenders and easily earned a second-round match against Mexico. Fielding four second-string players, Argentina showed its depth. The Dutch were less impressive as they head to a meeting with Portugal on Sunday in Nuremberg.

As Group C winner, Argentina now has a Latin American duel in Leipzig on Saturday.

As soon as the 18-year-old Messi got going, there was little doubt who was running the show for Argentina. During the 69 minutes he played, he set up chances for teammates, tested the inexperienced Dutch defense himself, and showed skills precious few players possess.

When Messi was substituted, Diego Maradona led the warm applause from the stands.

All that time, Dutch winger Arjen Robben, the team’s star in its first two games, was on the bench, saving his strength for the second round. The Dutch sat five starters for the game, the Argentines four as both teams were already sure to advance.

In his Dutch record-equaling 112th international, Edwin van der Sar produced the save of the match, a one-handed dive to swipe out a 20-yard drive from Carlos Tevez in the 74th minute.

Overall though, the meeting of the 1978 finalists rarely produced the intensity everyone hoped for. It made Messi’s performance all the more exciting.