On November 22, the World Championship begins for the teams in Group C. Argentina and Saudi Arabia will open the World Cup program.
Estimated compositions
Argentina (4-3-3): Martinez – Molina, Acuña, Romero, Otamendi – Paredes, de Paul, Gomez – Messi, Di Maria, Martinez
Saudi Arabia (4-3-3): Al-Owais – Al-Ghanam, Al-Shahrani, Al-Amri, Al-Bulaikhi – Sharahili, Al-Naji, Al-Faraj – Al-Dosari, Bahebri, Al-Breykan
Judge
The match will be refereed by a team led by Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic.
stage
The fight will take place in Lusail at the Lusail Ikonik Stadium.
Argentina
This World Cup could very well be Lionel Messi’s swan song at the World Cup. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner could propel his country to a great finish and there’s every reason to believe this year could be Argentina’s year.
Lionel Scaloni’s side traveled to Qatar with the Copa America in hand, and ending a 36-year streak without a trophy at the World Cup is on the agenda for the South American champions, whose star Messi wasn’t even born when they went all the way in the World Championship.
After losing 2-0 to Brazil in the 2019 Copa América, Argentina went 36 consecutive matches unbeaten in all competitions, qualifying for the 2022 World Cup without losing a match and winning each of their last five matches in all competitions. competitions.
Albiceleste’s recent winning quintet saw five clean sheets and an impressive 16 goals – at least three in each game – and their latest warm-up friendly against the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday ended in a 5-0 aggregate triumph.
Relegation from the top 16 with their only win of the entire tournament came as a bitter disappointment for Argentina in 2018, four years after defeat by Germany in the 2014 final.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia had the honor of opening the 2018 World Cup with a match against hosts Russia, but that 0-5 defeat was an “unforgettable” event for the Arabian Falcons, who are likely to fear a fate similar against an Argentina on the run.
Unsurprisingly, Hervé Renard’s side were knocked out of the group stage four years ago and will have to fight hard this time to avoid the same result, with Mexico and Poland looking to exit tough Group C.
Making the round of 16 in 1994 was Saudi Arabia’s only exit from the group stage of the World Cup so far, and the world’s 51st-placed country arrived in Qatar in poor shape, having won only two of the last games. 10 in all tournaments.
Renard’s men drew 1-1 with Panama and lost 0-1 to Croatia ahead of the World Cup, and just nine goals have been scored from either end of the pitch in their last 10 games.
Argentina and Saudi Arabia have never met in a World Cup before, but Albiceleste boast two wins and two draws in their previous four meetings with the Asian nation.
Face to face meetings
Argentina have a predictably impressive record against Saudi Arabia and have won two of their four matches against their rivals, while the other two ended in draws. This is the first meeting between Argentina and Saudi Arabia in the World Cup. Argentina qualified for their 18th World Cup and the 2022 World Cup was their 13th in a row, the third longest active streak after Brazil and Germany. Argentina won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986 and are one of only three South American teams, along with Brazil and Uruguay, to lift the trophy. Argentina have qualified for the FIFA World Cup play-offs in 12 of the last 13 tournaments, with the only setback in that period coming in 2002. Argentina have lost three of their last five World Cup matches, the same number of losses suffered in the 24 games leading up to the series.
Prediction for the match Argentina – Saudi Arabia
At the moment, Argentina have an unbeaten run of 36 matches and are well positioned to continue their stellar performance at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi is the beating heart of his team and this year he will have to show the better than himself. Saudi Arabia is not able to cope with strong opponents, in this match they absolutely cannot. Argentina are the best team on paper and they won’t settle for anything less than a big win. While Saudi Arabia performed valiantly defensively in 2022, there was a clear lack of goals from the other side and they are unlikely to find much joy against a red-hot Argentine side. Scaloni’s men have beaten almost every team that has played against them in the last three years and we can only see how Albicelesta will take three points in the first round. Forecast – tb2.5.
