No rest in Qatar. For many, the World Cup is just starting with the knockout stage matches. The world superpower Germany are out, there will be no Belgium, Denmark, Serbia, Uruguay, Mexico, national teams that were expected to reach the round of 16, but other favorites are there. After the first round, the most worried were the Argentinians, who were sensationally defeated by Saudi Arabia (1-2). After that collapse, Lionel Messi and his friends played much better, they defeated Mexico (2-0), and in the last match of the group stage they overcame Poland (2-0), not so much by the end result as by the game, where Robert Lewandowski and his friends had no chances.Everything worked out, the Gauchos were the leaders of the group and they got perhaps the weakest team among the 16, Australia, as a rival. The Aussies defeate Tunisia and Denmark in their group, so tonight in Al Rayyan (22.00) they want to take the scalp of one of the favorites for the crown.Leo Messi’s game vs Australia will be the 1000th of his career.778 – Barcelona.53 – PSG168 – Argentina pic.twitter.com/CcuVYI6cKw— BarcaMessi (@BarcaMessi__) December 3, 2022 Both teams won six points each in the group stage. Like the Argentinians, the Australians also started with a defeat. They were defeated by France (1-4), and then they took their first World Cup victory with a minimal result. The defenses of both teams did not concede a goal in the last 180 minutes of the tournament.Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni is cautious, the slap against Saudi Arabia has set off the alarm. Now there is no room for error.“Australia is a good team. This is football, 11 against 11. We have to put aside the stories that we are favorites, that we have already been seen in the quarter-finals. The approach must be like against Poland,” said the Gauchos coach.”Our rival has good strikers, experienced midfielders, they have shown a high level in the course of the championship so far”.##EDITORS_CHOICE##The problem for the Argentines is the injury to Angel di Maria. The Juventus star could start the match from the bench due to a minor muscle injury. There are several variants. Di Maria could be replaced by Angel Correa, the other is another experienced creator – Papu Gomez. The Argentinian Ole writes that Leandro Parades could start the match if Scaloni wants to start more cautiously. Julian Alvarez should be with Messi in the starting line-up for the team. At the same time, there is also a possibility that Lautaro Martinez, who after two weak games lost his starting position in the match against the Poles, will be in the starting line-up again. Alvarez scored against Mexico, while the Inter Milan striker is still kind of shy in Qatar.Australia coach Graham Arnold recalled that he had already beaten Argentina in an important match.”Of course we are going to win. I led the Olympic team in Tokyo, we beat Argentina 2-0″.These teams have played four matches in history, none at the World Cup. The South American selection won three times, while one match ended in a draw (1-1).The winner of this match in the quarter-finals will play against the better team from the Netherlands-USA match. If everything goes according to expectations, in the semi-finals we could see a proper ‘war of the worlds’, a showdown between Argentina and Brazil.𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟰: Graham Arnold captains the @Socceroos side which lost to Argentina in the play-offs for 1994 #FIFAWorldCup𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮: Graham Arnold coaches Australia against Argentina in the Round of 16.Unfinished business 💼#Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/tRswRhqQBQ— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 3, 2022 QATAR 2022 WORLD CUP ROUND OF 16Saturday18:00: (2.15) Netherlands (3.20) USA (4.00)22:00: (1.27) Argentina (5.90) Australia (14.0)Sunday18:00: (1.35) France (5.30) Poland (10.0)22:00: (1.60) England (3.80) Senegal (7.25)Monday18:00: (3.80) Japan (3.15) Croatia (2.25)22:00: (1.30) Brazil (5.80) S.Korea (12.0)Tuesday18:00: (7.25) Morocco (3.70) Spain (1.62)22:00: (2.00) Portugal (3.40) Switzerland (4.30)***odds are subject to change
