Lusail Stadium will play host to Tuesday's FIFA World Cup game between Argentina and Saudi Arabia. The game kicks off at 9:00 pm with Argentina heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Argentina vs. Saudi Arabia game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Tuesday November 22, 2022 at 9:00 pm

Where: Lusail Stadium

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Argentina vs Saudi Arabia Odds

Argentina vs Saudi Arabia Preview

Saudi Arabia supporters may feel they will never have a better chance of reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup than in one hosted by a fellow Arab nation, but few would go into this opening match expecting too much.

For standing in the way of the Saudis is a colossus of international football – two-time World Cup winners and Copa America holders, Argentina.

Argentine fans, too, will be feeling confident of their team doing something special as they look to put the disappointment of Russia 2018 behind them.

La Albiceleste went to Russia on the back of a runners-up performance in 2014 but looking somewhat shambolic four years later, with an ageing and unbalanced squad that was short of defensive quality and lacking a first-choice goalkeeper. A 3-0 humbling by Croatia in the group stage followed by a round-of-16 exit to France confirmed the fears of many Argentine supporters – this was the end of an era.

But their team has bounced back incredibly quickly.

The rebuild began during an underwhelming 2019 Copa America campaign in which hosts Brazil eliminated them at the semi-final stage.

Since that July 2019 defeat, however, Argentina headed to Qatar unbeaten – drawing ten matches and winning 24, while breaking a 28-year curse to claim their 15th Copa America title.

A fresh, hungry squad boasts impressive strength in defence and a wealth of creativity and energy through midfield. Most importantly, it retains the services of the evergreen Lionel Messi, who now fits more comfortably into a team built to get the best out of the entire team, rather than focusing solely on him.

But even at 35-years-old, Messi can hardly help but steal the show, with him and fellow veteran Angel Di Maria flourishing as wide men in Lionel Scaloni’s 4-3-3. Post-peak Messi is still far too good for the vast majority of opponents, as Estonia discovered during their June friendly – the Paris Saint-Germain magician scored all five goals in a 5-0 rout.

Saudi Arabia manager Herve Renard will see his first priority as avoiding a similar dismantling to that of Estonia, particularly after the Saudis opened up their 2018 World Cup finals campaign with a defeat of the same scale, losing 5-0 to hosts Russia.

The omens are not great, however.

Renard’s 2019 appointment has brought stability to a team that had seen 11 different managers in nine years and the Frenchman led Saudi Arabia to top spot in Australia’s AFC World Cup Qualifying Group B. But their performances were not emphatic enough to suggest they can step up and compete against a team of Argentina’s class.

The Green Falcons were decent on home soil, winning all five games but each time only by a single-goal margin, bar a 3-1 defeat of minnows Vietnam. Their 2-0 defeat away in Japan and 0-0 draw in Sydney – in which the Socceroos were harshly denied by a contentious VAR call – as well as a 1-1 draw in China suggest that Renard’s men will be unable to trouble this resilient Argentina side.

Saudi Arabia will enjoy a near-home advantage here – bringing plenty of fans across the border to Qatar and being comfortable in the climate and surroundings.

However, the South Americans boast such an advantage in quality that it should make little difference.

The Saudis narrowly lost two June friendlies to Colombia and Venezuela – a South American pair who failed to make it to Qatar – but Renard’s men will do well to keep things respectable against an Argentinian side who finished 16 and 29 points ahead of these nations in qualifying.

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