The Socceroos will be looking to make history on Sunday morning when they take on Argentina for a place in the quarterfinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Jake Smit previews the fixture and brings you his best bet for this Round of 16 clash!
2022 FIFA World Cup Betting Tips
Argentina vs Australia
Sunday 6am AEDT, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium
Australia and Argentina both lost their opening group match in Qatar but managed to win their way through to the Round of 16. This sets up a blockbuster clash on Sunday morning, and one that will go down in the history books regardless of the result.
Argentina
After losing in a massive upset against Saudi Arabia in their first match in Qatar, Argentina steadied the ship to win each of their next two against Mexico and Poland, both via a 2-0 score line. As a result, they ended up topping Group C ahead of Poland who finished in second.
Lionel Messi has been a tad inaccurate in front of goal through three matches, scoring twice from 13 attempts, eight of which have been on target. Still, he’s been the catalyst for La Albiceleste in his fifth and likely final World Cup.
Despite having arguably the GOAT leading the way, La Albiceleste have somewhat underperformed on the world stage in recent editions. They made the final in Brazil in 2014, but aside from that they’ve failed to get past the quarterfinals since 1990.
Predicted Argentina XI: E. Martinez; Montiel, Otamendi, Li.Martinez, Acuna; De Paul, Rodgriguez, Mac Allister; Di Maria, Messi, La.Martinez
Australia
Australia weren’t up to the level against the defending champions, France in their opening match of Group D where they lost 4-1, and it could’ve been a lot uglier. However, they bounced back beautifully in their 1-0 win over Tunisia before repeating the dose against Denmark, in a win that sent shock waves around the country.
Mathew Leckie was the hero against the Danes with a phenomenal strike from outside the box, beating a world class goalkeeper in Kasper Schmeichel. That goal has been a long time coming for a player that has been one of the consistent top performers for the Socceroos for the best part of a decade.
Now, the Socceroos have the chance to do something they’ve never done in their history – make the quarterfinals at a FIFA World Cup. Football fans all remember the heartache of 2006 when the Socceroos were eliminated in the dying stages of their Round of 16 clash with Italy due to a controversial penalty. 16 years later, the Socceroos have the chance to go one better than what many call the golden generation.
Predicted Australia XI: Ryan; Degenek, Souttar, Rowles, Behich; Leckie, Mooy, Irvine, Goodwin; McGree, Duke
Prediction
In many ways, this is a David vs Goliath type battle, and unfortunately, the Socceroos aren’t Goliath in the analogy. They’ll start as the massive $13 underdogs against Argentina ($1.22), which is to be expected when you consider the wealth of class separating the two nations.
While an upset is not entirely out of the equation, especially when you consider Saudi Arabia have already handed the Argentines a defeat in Qatar, I can’t really entertain playing the Socceroos in the head-to-head market.
One bet that I believe is great value, however, is taking the Socceroos to score. They’ve scored at least one goal in nine of their last 11 World Cup matches despite only winning three of them. On top of that, we’ve scored in all three of our matches in Qatar, and we should get at least a couple of chances on the counterattack in this one.
