Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul stressed that Argentina is starting to "show off their familiar style of play", ahead of the match against Australia in the round of 16. Albiceleste caused themselves trouble when they shockingly lost 0-2 to Saudi Arabia in the opening match. However, in the following 2 matches, Lionel Scaloni and his team showed the qualities of a championship candidate when they defeated Mexico and Poland with a score of 2-0 respectively.
Especially in the match against Poland, Messi and his teammates showed a completely superior game, not giving Lewandowski any chance. This is the 11th time in the last 12 World Cup appearances that Argentina has reached the round of 16. Despite complaints about his short break after the group stage, coach Lionel Scaloni understood that he could not justify to fans at home if the team lost to Australia.
Meanwhile, Australia impressed when finishing the group stage with 6 points, equal to defending champion France. This is the second time in 16 years that the Socceroos have reached the round of 16, after the golden generation of Tim Cahill. With a very high level of excitement, Graham Arnold's team is confident that it will cause difficulties for the South American representative.
Australia's position and stature cannot compete with Argentina, so in the previous 4 meetings, they have lost to Albiceleste. In the group stage of the 2005 Confederation of continents Cup, Argentina beat their opponents 4-2, with a hat-trick from Luciano Figuiroa. However, Australia also has some confidence as the country's Olympic team, led by Graham Arnold himself, defeated the Argentine Olympic team 2-0 in the group stage of the 2020 Olympics.
Lionel Messi did not score in the match against Poland, but he is still the core of the home team's attacking play. The PSG star is creating 9 chances after 3 matches in the group stage, only behind Antoine Griezmann with 11 chances. Among those who are close to Messi on this index, only France's Theo Hernandez is among the teams that have passed the group stage.
Australian centre-back Harry Souttar is second in the World Cup with 20 saves, just behind kalidou Koulibaly of Senegal with 25. Souttar also ranked 2nd at the World Cup in terms of the number of wins in aerial disputes with 11 times, behind only 3 other players with 12 successes.
In terms of player and squad quality, Argentina is superior to their opponents when their 11 starting players in the match against Poland are all competing in the top 5 European National Championships. In contrast, among Australia's 11 starting players against Denmark, none are competing in Europe's top five leagues, with four even competing in the second division.
The Argentina - Australia match will take place at 2:00 a.m. on December 4.
