Argentina and Australia face off on 3 November in the 1/8 final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The match between the two will take place at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. Will Messi and Co. easily emerge as favourites to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament?
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Match Winner – Argentina – 1.25.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Total Goals Over 2.5 – 1.89.
Argentina turned the group stage into a drama, failing in the first leg. The Albiceleste have suffered more inexperience than in football against Mexico and have now got the better of the Poles. As the tournament progresses, Argentina’s pace has been gradually improving and Australia’s chances of success have been minimal as they have the edge across the board.
It can also be assumed that Argentina will score heavily. France’s example will teach them that. Didier Deschamps also has an excellent attacking game. Australia should shrug off the pressure of qualifying from the group stage and play their hearts out. Australia allowed 22 shots on goal from France and conceded four goals. Tunisia and Denmark combined to score 27 shots against Australia, but both teams have had a very poor run in the tournament in terms of execution. Argentina have great masters and should score a lot to the delight of the fans.
Argentina was considered one of the main favourites ahead of the World Cup in Qatar. However, the tournament began with a sensational defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia (1-2), thereby interrupting a streak of 36 matches without a defeat.
In the next game, Lionel Scaloni’s charges were stronger than Mexico’s (2-0). In the closing game of the group stage, the Argentines defeated Poland (2-0).
Messi failed to score a penalty at the end of the first half and both goals flew into the net after the break. Argentina finished first in their quartet with six points, two points ahead of their pursuers.
By the way, two of the five goals scored at the World Cup are due to PSG forward Lionel Messi, who scored for the eighth time, catching up with the legendary Diego Maradona.
The Albiceleste, who have won the World Cup twice, was stopped by France in the 1/8th final in 2018 and lost in the final to Germany in 2014.
Australia started the World Cup with a heavy defeat at the hands of France (1-4), though they scored first.
The Socceroos slumped to a (1-0) defeat of Tunisia in the tournament’s second leg before sensationally beating Denmark (1-0) in the final round to finish second in their quartet with six points.
The team have reached the last eight final once before. That was in 2006 when they lost (0-1) to eventual tournament winner Italy.
It’s worth noting that in their last eight matches, Australia has suffered just one defeat, which was at the hands of France, as well as six wins and one draw.
The teams have played seven games and on five occasions the Argentines have won, the Aussies have come away stronger on one occasion and drawn once.
In our opinion, the teams will take to the field with the following line-ups:
Argentina: E. Martinez – Molina, Otamendi, Romero, Tagliafico – Mac Allister, Fernandez, De Paul – Alvarez, Messi, Di Maria.
Australia: Ryan – Karacic, Souttar, Rowles, Behich – Mooy; Leckie, Irvine, McGree, Goodwin – Duke.
The fixture will be played at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium (45.032) in Al Rayyan, Qatar.
This starting whistle will sound on the 3rd of December, 2022, at 19:00 UK Time.
We recommend checking out the odds for the World Cup 2022: Argentina vs Australia at VBET.