Argentina will face Poland in their final group-stage match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on Wednesday.
The two-time World Cup champions are in danger of being knocked out of the tournament if they lose this fixture. Poland, on the other hand, needs only a point to secure a place in the Round of 16.
Argentina were pre-tournament favourites to win their third World Cup in Qatar 2022. However, their dream of winning the third World Cup suffered a major setback after losing the first match against Saudi Arabia.
They kept their dream alive by winning the second group-stage fixture against Mexico 2-0, however, the team’s overall performance and coach Lionel Scaloni’s tactics haven’t been fruitful in the first two matches.
Robert Lewandowski finally celebrated his first World Cup goal for the fifth time in asking as Poland secured a 2 nil victory against Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
After missing a penalty in the goalless draw with Mexico, the Barcelona striker redeemed himself when he capitalised on a defensive error to wrap up the points for the Eagles eight minutes from time after Piotr Zielinski had opened the scoring on the stroke of halftime.
Team news
Robert Lewandowski finally scored his first-ever goal at a World Cup in Poland’s win over Saudi Arabia and will be called upon to add more to that tally if his nation is to beat Argentina.
Czeslaw Michniewicz opted to play Arkadiusz Milik alongside Lewandowski against Saudi Arabia, which seemed to do the trick in unlocking their talisman. Escaping the victory without any fresh injury concerns, expect them to proceed again with a similar setup.
Lionel Scaloni made several changes in Argentina’s second game, but they didn’t all seem to work as he’d hoped. Some more re-jigging might be required as he tries to figure out his strongest XI.
Poland starting 11 (4-4-2):
Szczesny; Cash, Glik, Kiwior, Bereszynski; Zielinski, Bielik, Krychowiak, Frankowski; Milik, Lewandowski
Argentina starting 11 (4-4-2):
Martinez; Molina, Otamendi, Martinez, Acuna; Di Maria, De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister; Messi, Martinez
Prediction
Poland 1-2 Argentina
With the likely prospect of facing world champions, France in the last 16 should either nation finish second in Group C, Poland and Argentina will both be determined to come out on the winning side on Wednesday.
Poland has the potential to cause problems for Argentina and another upset cannot be discounted here, but if Messi and co can click in the final third, Scaloni’s men should have the quality to edge past their European counterparts
Leave a comment