Group C Match-day 1 Preview

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is finally underway and has already given us some truly memorable matches!

Now that Group A and B have concluded their first matchday, it's time for Group C to start its World Cup campaign on Tuesday November 22 with two interesting games.

A highly competitive group that could yield plenty of surprises, there’s a lot to digest from the first round match-ups.

Argentina vs Saudi Arabia

Widely considered one of the favourite teams to take the cup home, Argentina will make their World Cup debut against one of the lowest ranked teams in the competition - Saudi Arabia.

Can Messi win his World Cup?

Led by the incandescent Lionel Messi in what is expected to be his World Cup swan song, Argentina come into this tournament on the back of an impressive three-year unbeaten run.

While their starting line-up may not be bursting with as many instantly recognizable superstars as in other editions, Argentina comes into this cup with something much better than that: a well-structured, tight-knit squad that boasts great understanding and synergy on the pitch.

Well, that and Lionel Messi in top form and hungrier than ever to lift up the trophy.

On the other end of the pitch, the Saudi national side has not achieved much success in any of their previous WC campaigns. Making their 6th appearance at the World Cup finals, Saudi Arabia has only ever reached the round of 16 once, in 1994.

Apart from their unimpressive history in this tournament, the world's 51st-ranked nation are not arriving at this competition with their best form. Winning only 2 of their last 10 games and scoring only 4 times, they do not look likely to pose much of a threat to an Albiceleste side with red-hot form and high ambitions.

At a price of 1.16, there’s not much value in betting on a straight up Argentina win, but the ‘Over 2.5/Both teams score - No’ at a price of 3.0 seems very tempting to us.

Mexico vs Poland

While Argentina is widely expected to qualify for the next round of the competition, the second spot for the Round of 16 is very much up in the air.

With no one really counting on Saudi Arabia to advance, that makes the match-up between Mexico and Poland absolutely crucial for both teams' aspirations to move forward to the next round.

History vs Present

El Tri comes into this World Cup the more experienced of both sides, having qualified for the past 8 competitions in a row, including this one. They have advanced to the Round of 16 on all 7 previous occasions, but have found it famously impossible to move on any further than that.

While Mexico’s history in the 21st century certainly dwarfs that of Poland, who have not qualified past the group stage since Mexico 1986, Poland does seem to come into this competition with stronger form than their North American opponents.

Though it may be hard to separate both sides, with the odds only slightly favouring Mexico at 2.68 for the win, both teams to score at 2.03 seems like a bet worth looking into.

The Aztec side have had trouble keeping their defense tight in their past few games, and with Poland’s talismanic forward Robert Lewandowski coming in red-hot form and looking to shake his World Cup curse, it would not be surprising to see him score his first goal in the competition in this match, at odds of 5 at Betsson.