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Argentina’s latest quest for international glory kicks off on Tuesday, as the South American nation begin their World Cup 2022 Group C campaign against Saudi Arabia at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

La Albiceleste have two World Cups in their cabinet from 1978 and 1986, while Saudi Arabia are aiming to make waves in a difficult group and avoid an expected fourth-placed finish.

Match preview

In what may very well prove to be Lionel Messi’s World Cup swansong, the script for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner to propel his nation to the big one has already been written, and there is every reason to believe that this year could be Argentina’s year.

Lionel Scaloni’s side made the journey to Qatar with the Copa America already in the bag, and ending a 36-year run without World Cup glory is next on the agenda for the South American champions, whose luminary Messi had not even been born when they last went all the way in the World Cup.

Since losing 2-0 to Brazil in the 2019 Copa America, Argentina have embarked on an astonishing 36-game unbeaten run across all competitions, qualifying for the 2022 World Cup without losing a game and winning each of their last five in all tournaments.

La Albiceleste’s recent quintet of victories has been accompanied by five clean sheets and a whopping 16 goals – at least three in every game – and their final warm-up friendly versus the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday ended in a comprehensive 5-0 triumph.

Being eliminated from the last 16 with only one win to their name in the entire tournament was a bitter disappointment for Argentina in 2018, four years after falling to Germany in the 2014 final, but a fast start should be on the menu for La Albiceleste in Qatar.

Saudi Arabia held the honour of opening the 2018 World Cup against host nation Russia, but that 5-0 defeat was a forgettable affair for the Arabian Falcons, who will likely be fearing a similar fate versus a rampant Argentina on Tuesday.

Herve Renard’s side were unsurprisingly the victims of a group-stage exit four years ago and are fighting an uphill battle to avoid suffering the same result this time around, with Mexico and Poland also taking their places in a daunting Group C.

A last-16 finish in 1994 represents Saudi Arabia’s sole progression beyond the group stage of the World Cup so far, and the world’s 51st-ranked nation do not arrive in Qatar in the best of form, having won just two of their last 10 matches in all tournaments.

Renard’s men drew 1-1 with Panama and lost 1-0 to Croatia in the build-up to the World Cup, and their last 10 games have only seen nine goals fly in at either end of the pitch, but the Arabian Falcons do at least possess the benefit of playing in such sweltering conditions on a regular basis.

Argentina and Saudi Arabia have never met at the finals of a World Cup before, but the Albiceleste boast a record of two wins and two draws from their previous four clashes with the Asian nation, most recently being held to a goalless stalemate in a 2012 friendly.

Team News

Concerns were immediately raised over the welfare of Messi when it was reported that the Paris Saint-Germain attacker was training individually on Saturday, but he is not reported to be suffering from any sort of injury and was back with the team the following day.

Lisandro Martinez (discomfort) and Guido Rodriguez (illness) are both classed as doubtful, though, while Joaquin Correa has been forced to withdraw injured and has been replaced by Thiago Almada.

Assuming he is fit enough, Messi will expect to form an intimidating attacking trident with Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria, while Cristian Romero and Nicolas Otamendi could line up at the back if Martinez is spared.

As for Saudi Arabia, five-cap midfielder Riyadh Sharahili has reportedly sustained a muscular problem which has thrown his World Cup hopes into doubt, while defender Hassan Tambakti is now back in full training after recovering from discomfort.

It would have been a surprise to see either man start against Argentina, though, and experienced attacker Fahad Al-Muwallad – who has 17 international goals to his name – was left out of the squad after failing a drugs test.

Star man Salem Al-Dawsari will expect to occupy the left flank for Saudi Arabia, as Saleh Al-Shehri – the joint top goalscorer in the third round of AFC qualifying with four strikes – starts on the opposite side.

Argentina possible starting lineup:
E. Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Gomez; Messi, L. Martinez, Di Maria

Saudi Arabia possible starting lineup:
Al-Owais; Al-Burayk, Al-Amri, Al-Bulahyi, Al-Shahrani; Kanno, Al-Malki; Al-Shehri, Al-Faraj, Al-Daswari; Al-Buraikan

Gareth Bale rode to Wales’ rescue once again as the captain’s late penalty salvaged a draw against the United States in his country’s first World Cup game for 64 years.

Wales were listless and overrun in a first half dominated by a vibrant USA team, who led as Tim Weah finished smartly after a surging run and pass by Christian Pulisic.

The half-time introduction of striker Kieffer Moore revitalised Wales, whose newfound energy and purpose turned a one-sided affair into a genuine contest as Ben Davies and Moore both came close to equalising.

Then with nine minutes left, the hitherto anonymous Bale was clattered in the box by Walker Zimmerman before confidently whipping his penalty into the net to send the travelling Welsh supporters behind that goal into raptures.

Wales finished the game strongly, buoyed to have secured a point on their long-awaited World Cup return when they had appeared to be heading for a defeat which would have left them staring at an early exit from the competition.

Instead, Robert Page’s men will return to the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Friday to face Iran – thrashed 6-2 by England earlier on Monday – knowing that victory would give them a chance of progressing to the second round.

Wales conclude the group stage against England a week Tuesday but thoughts of that game can wait as they savour this fightback and the good it will do for their hopes of extending their World Cup adventure.

©BBC

Two late goals from the Netherlands sealed a crucial victory in their World Cup opener against Senegal in Group A.

PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo beat Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to the ball when it was chipped in by Frenkie de Jong to nod the Dutch in front with six minutes remaining.

Substitute Davy Klaasen then pounced on a rebound from Memphis Depay’s shot to add a second deep into stoppage-time to confirm the success.

Gakpo whirled away in celebration in front of the Senegal fans behind the goal as the Dutch supporters, together in a sea of orange at the other end of the Al Thumama Stadium, rose to their feet.

The Dutch supporters were already chanting their team’s name as they knew victory was near before Klaasen made sure with seconds remaining.

Senegal, who had threatened throughout the match, came close to equalising before Davy’s goal when Papa Gueye fired it towards the bottom left corner moments but Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert got his fingertips to it.

It was a match which had teased a goal for long periods but both sides lacked ruthlessness. Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal even risked the fitness of Depay to bring him on as a second-half substitute in the hope of finding a way through.

The risk paid off as the Netherlands secured a vital three points in a game many believe could decide the winners of Group A.

They now sit joint-top in the group with Ecuador, who beat hosts Qatar 2-0 on Sunday evening.

Senegal, without injured key forward Sadio Mane during the competition, looked like a side missing their main attacking threat but can take confidence from the number of times they troubled the Dutch defence.

©BBC

Slavko Matic was relieved to see Hearts of Oak put a poor opening 45 minutes behind them with a second-half comeback to secure a 2-2 draw against Dreams FC in the Ghana Premier League on Sunday.

Dreams FC took a 2-0 lead before the Phobians came from behind to seal a point at the Accra Sports stadium.

David William Van Dijk scored in the 14th minute before The Still Believe lads doubled their lead one minute after the recess.

Hearts of Oak halved the deficit in the 75th minute before Benjamin Yorke scored the equalizer in added time after coming on a substitute for Rashid Okine in the 80th minute.

“I said before the game, I will give opportunity to all players, young players played today and now we see, we miss experience,” coach Matic said after the game.

“But in the end, I can say I must be satisfied when we scored the second goal in the last five minutes but want more.”

The result takes Hearts of Oak to the 5th spot with 13 points.

The Ghana Premier League is on break and will resume in December because of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar which kicked off in Doha on Sunday, November 20, 2022.

Asante Kotoko assistant coach Abdulai Gazale was left to rue his side’s failure to convert several gilt-edged chances in their 2-1 defeat to Real Tamale United on match week eight of the Ghana Premier League.

RTU came from behind to beat the defending champions at the Aliu Mahama stadium.

Georges Mfegue opened the scoring for the Porcupine Warriors but the Tamale-based side scored two quick fire goals through Issah Kuka and Dabvid Abagna in the 64th and 65th minutes respectively.

“We lacked concentration in the second half especially our four back and the opponent capitalized on that one then overturned the result,” coach Gazale.

“Today I must say that this is one of the bad days that we can think of as far as Kotoko is concerned because consistently away games we have been doing better.”

“Look at the chances that we have created, so many chances we created to bury the game in the first half but unfortunately we couldn’t get that result and we were punished by that.”

The Ghana Premier League is on break and will resume next month because of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar which kicked off in Doha on Sunday, November 20, 2022