Australia shocked onlookers by finishing second in Group D ahead of a much more fancied Denmark. Now, Australia face off with Group C winner Argentina in the World Cup round of 16.
Argentina overcame their opening-day wobble to top Group C with back-to-back 2-0 wins against Mexico and Poland. La Albiceleste may have been poor against Saudi Arabia in a 2-1 loss, but they made up for it to finish the group on top.
#Qatar2022 #Australia 🇦🇺 será el próximo rival de la Selección @Argentina 🇦🇷 en octavos de final.📝 https://t.co/8CpIQ4j7JV pic.twitter.com/rl6fKpMYfL— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) December 1, 2022
#Qatar2022 #Australia 🇦🇺 será el próximo rival de la Selección @Argentina 🇦🇷 en octavos de final.📝 https://t.co/8CpIQ4j7JV pic.twitter.com/rl6fKpMYfL
The winner of Saturday’s match at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium will meet either the Netherlands or the United States in the quarterfinals. Argentina will fancy their chances of getting a win against the Aussies. Australia are the underdog going into the game and have nothing to lose.
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni mixed things up with the starting XI against Poland. He started Julian Alvarez on the left wing in a 4-3-3 formation. The Man City forward scored justifying his inclusion. Scaloni stuck with Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria in the other two attacking positions.
Enzo Fernandez also got a start. He came into midfield while Cristian Romero returned to defence ahead of Lisandro Martinez. There has been a call for Paulo Dybala to play and provide a spark for the attack.
Australia manager Graham Arnold used a 4-4-2 formation against Denmark. The Aussies are difficult to break down, as they kept back-to-back clean sheets against Tunisia and Denmark.
The Socceroos led in all three of their group-stage matches. It may be forgotten now that Australia led 1-0 against France before the reigning world champions came back to win 4-1.
Argentina were the bookmakers’ second-favourite to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup behind the favourite, Brazil. Now in the last 16, Argentina are again second-favourites to win the tournament at odds of 5/1. Australia are a long shot at 200/1 to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
La Albiceleste and Australia met seven times previously with the former posting a record of 5W-1D-1L. Argentina and Australia last played in 2007 in an international friendly. The Argentines won 1-0. Australia’s only win against Argentina was in 1988 in the Bicentennial Gold Cup.
Argentina won back-to-back games against Mexico and Poland by 2-0 scores. After their shocking opening game, Scaloni has them playing much better, especially in defence. Argentina have an xGA of just 0.7, which is the second-lowest in the tournament behind Brazil’s 0.5.
Messi should lead Argentina to a win against Australia with the game ending 2-0. Australia’s great run in the tournament will come to an end.