Bukayo Saka, Cody Gakpo and the Gareth Bale were the starts of day two of the FIFA World Cup after their former two led their sides to victory while the third rescued a point for Wales late on against the US.
Today, defending Champions, France will be in action as they begin the quest to become the first defending Champions to make it to the next round since Brazil in 2006.
Group C
Argentina vs Saudi Arabia
Favourites, Argentina get us up an running in the first game of the day three of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup as they take on Asian country, Saudi Arabia in the first game of the Group C.
Argentina will be expected to take maximum points and win by some margins with the likes of Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria and others fit and ready to represent their nation.
The defending Champions of the Copa America will have no troubles getting past their opponents, who ranked 48 places below them in the current FIFA ranking.
This is also a sort of game that allows players to boost their goal tally in the tournament and for Saudi Arabia, it is more about damage limitations, hence, manager, Herve Renard will be more focused on defensive compactness rather than being ambitious going forward.
It is most likely Lionel Messi’s last chance in the FIFA World Cup and his teammates are ready to go all out for him. Unfortunately for Saudi Arabia, they are predicted to be their first victim, in one of the games they will be most dangerous.
It will be a long 90 minutes for the Arabs and they can only hope Argentina will not be at their clinical best to avoid a disgraceful score line at full time.
Mexico vs Poland
In the other group game, Mexico take on Poland in the penultimate world cup fixture of the day. The clash can be compared to the meeting between The USA and Wales on Monday.
Mexico have a slight advantage over their European opponent but Poland do have Robert Lewandowski, who is arguably second to none at what he does.
The Barcelona striker will be a handful for the El Tri defence but dominating the tempo of the match will surely help them limit his influence on the match but still, he is bound to be presented a chance or two during the course of the game.
Goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny and midfielder, Piotr Zielinski are also top level players for the Poles and with them on the pitch, Poland will always have a chance to hurt Mexico.
However, the quality and chemistry of the midfield trio of Edson Alvarez, Hector Herrera and Andres Guardado should be able to allow Gerardo Martino’s Mexico dictate much of the play.
Mexico’s 433 set up makes them very deadly with possession. Recall that Poland plays with a back three, chances will be presented and the North American have capable forwards, in the likes of Hirvin Lozano, Henry Martin and Alexis Vega.
It will be a good game to watch for tactical reasons ans it will be interesting to see who comes out on top albeit it will be evenly contested.
It’s a winner takes all clash as Argentina have the advantage to walk over all others in the group and this clash will go a long way in determining who finish as runners up.
Group D
Denmark vs Tunisia
Group favorites, Denmark get their campaign underway this afternoon against North African side, Tunisia in the second game of the day.
Denmark’s impressive form has seen them being tipped to finish above France in this group and to achieve that, they will have to start by making a statement against Tunisia later today.
Christian Eriksen, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerj, Daniel Wass, Joakim Maehle, Thomas Delaney, Kasper Schmeichel and captain, Simon Kjaer and others are good enough to help Denmark better their best finish in the global tournament.
Denmark reached the quarter in France 1998 and have not bettered that run. This generation presents them a good chance and finishing top of the group will go a long way in aiding their cause.
For Tunisia, who are making their sixth appearance in the competition and have never reached the next round, this first game is their best chance to set a new height for themselves and if they failed, it could be game over for them.
France vs Austrialia
The preparation to defend the title they won over four years ago in Russia hasn’t been easy for France, who have lost quite a lot of first team players to injury.
Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kanté, Presnel Kimpebe were all part of the squad that achieved their second World Cup title in 2018 and have unfortunately missed out this time following injuries.
Karim Benzema, Christopher Nkunku and Mike Maignan are breath of fresh air to the national team but have also been ruled out for Qatar 2022 following injuries.
They resume their quest in the final kickoff of today, knowing what has been the fate of the last three defending Champions of the tournament, which has been elimination from the group stages.
Didier Deschamps still however has a lot of quality players in the ranks, young, experienced and as well talented players. Kylian Mbappé was the young best player last time out and has grown to the level of being named player of the tournament.
The PSG forward will surely have his eyes on the prize and if he’ll ever have a shot at it in Qatar, the best time to start convincing is today, when they take on the lowest ranked nation in the group, Austrialia.
The Oceanian country have not what it take to beat France if everything goes right but you can never say never in this game, right ? Mostly when you take recent form into consideration.
Graham Arnold’s Austrialia are unbeaten in their last five games, winning four times and in their only draw, they won on penalties against South American nation, Peru to secure ticket to Qatar for the FIFA World Cup.
The same can not be said of France’s performances lately. Didier Deschamps’ side have won just one in their last five. Nonetheless, this is not expected to have an important influence on the outcome of the France.
A win for France or football fans will start to think if indeed, the defending Champions curse is real.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi