The Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar will play host to a tense World Cup 2022 Group C encounter between Argentina and Mexico on Sunday, November 27. While Argentina suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia in the first round of fixtures, Mexico were saved by Guillermo Ochoa’s crucial penalty save against Robert Lewandowski in their last game against Poland, where El Tri snatched a point after a 0-0 draw.

There is a lot of history between these two sides. They have met each other in World Cup encounters, Copa America games, Confederations Cup, and quite a few friendlies. There is no love lost between these two Latin American sides as they go toe-to-toe, looking for their first victory of the campaign. Dropping points again could cause a major dent in Argentina’s World Cup voyage.

In the last game, Messi and Argentina got off to a perfect start, seeing them lead after just ten minutes via a penalty slotted home by the striker. Just over 15 minutes after that, La Albiceleste thought they had doubled their advantage only to see VAR disallow Lautaro Martinez’s strike. The Saudi equaliser came early in the second half, and less than five minutes later, the Arabian Falcons turned the game on its head and defended with all their might to clinch an emphatic victory.

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Facing Mexico will be a tougher test than Saudi Arabia for the two-time world champions. In this fixture, a lot more than three points will be at stake. Another failure to win will send shockwaves across the football universe and dump La Albiceleste out of the tournament. The last time Argentina were knocked out in the group stages of a World Cup was 20 years ago, in the 2002 edition. Lionel Scaloni could make a change or two in midfield and attack by bringing in Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez and Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez.

Mexico will have to be solid in midfield and defence, as they were against Poland. Cesar Montes and Hector Moreno were decent at the back, and the only error that the latter made was when he took Lewandowski down in the box and gave away the penalty. Jesus Gallardo was promising down the left flank from defence as he made quite a few darting runs forward and had the most tackles in the match.

Check: FIFA World Cup 2022 Points Table

Ajax’s Edson Alvarez was robust in the central area of the midfield as he made some crucial and crunching tackles, along with a couple of interceptions and recoveries. The 25-year-old showed that he is good in the air after winning five out of seven aerial duels. Up front, on the right flank, Napoli’s Hirving Lozano completed the most dribbles and was a menace on that side of the pitch. Against Argentina, coach Gerardo Martino may make a few changes by introducing Wolves’ striker Raul Jimenez or Cruz Azul’s Uriel Antuna.

Team News: Neither side is facing any injury concerns.

Form Guide: (Last five matches, most recent first)

Argentina: L - W - W - W - W

Mexico: D - L - W - L - W

Head-to-Head:

Games Played: 35

Argentina Wins: 16

Mexico Wins: 5

Draws: 14

Betting Odds: (Bet365)

Argentina: 1.53

Mexico: 6.50

Draw: 4.00

Predicted Line-Ups:

Argentina Possible Starting 11 (4-3-3): E. Martinez; Montiel, L. Martinez, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Allister; Di Maria, Messi, Alvarez.

Mexico Possible Starting 11 (4-3-3): Ochoa; Sanchez, Moreno, Montes, Gallardo; Alvarez, Herrera, Chavez; Lozano, Jimenez, Vega

Where to watch and match timing: The match will kick off at 12:30 AM IST on Sunday, November 27 and will be beamed live on Sports18 and Sports18 HD. Fans can also stream the action online on JioCinema’s official website.

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)

First Published:Nov 25, 2022 5:51 PM IST