World Cup 2022 Group C Preview

Argentina are currently on an incredible 35-match undefeated streak, having beaten Jamaica 3-0 in September. They will want to preserve this record when they face the United Arab Emirates in their warm-up match six days before their opening match against the Saudis. The Argentineans have an excellent squad, and as reigning South American champions, they have designs on going all the way. The first match against Saudi Arabia represents something of an unknown quantity. Still, they will expect to win and get off to a good start. The next match against Mexico is a stiffer test on paper. However, the Argentines will back themselves to win against a motivated and technically proficient Mexican side. The final match against Poland is also a match they will expect to win, particularly given Poland’s modest record when they have qualified for recent tournaments. Argentina can afford a blip somewhere along the way. Still, they will want to attain maximum points to breed confidence for the knockout stage.

From Saudi Arabia’s perspective, playing on their home continent will offer some comfort. They will hope to surprise many and cause a shock in this group. However, they have only won one of their last five matches, four of which took place in Spain and resulted in no victories. Furthermore, they only scored one goal in those five matches, conceding two. Their recent matches have been low scoring, but they have three clean sheets in those five, so their game plan in the first match will likely be to sit deep and defend for their lives in a low block against the Argentines. If they can pick up a point, they will enter the second match against Poland in a late afternoon kick-off with great confidence. They will know that victory against the Poles could put them in a great position going into the final match against Mexico, though even a point would be advantageous. The final match against Mexico could be decisive for the Saudis against difficult opponents. It takes place simultaneously with the Poland-Argentina match, so they will know exactly what is required of them if they are still in contention. They may well need a win to progress.

Mexico enter the tournament in mixed form, having won two, drawn two and lost three of their previous seven matches. These include four friendlies, and in fairness, the three losses all came in said exhibition matches against stern South American opposition (Uruguay, Paraguay, and Colombia). They have been heavily criticised back home. However, Mexico are a different animal in the World Cup. They are incredibly consistent, having reached the round of sixteen seven consecutive times. Their opening match versus Poland could be the dealbreaker who joins Argentina in the knockout stage. Mexico will have designs to overwhelm the Poles with their pace, tenacity and technique. Following this and when playing against Argentina, they will hope to already have three points in the bag. An eyebrow-raising victory over the Argentines would put them in pole position to top the group. If things are not going well, they have the insurance of playing the final match against the weakest team (on paper) in the section, Saudi Arabia. Indeed, permutations may come into play. However, they will back themselves to finish at least in second place. They will, though, be hopeful of first. They will want an easier match in the round of sixteen theoretically to finally qualify for the much-desired fifth match on foreign soil.

Poland come into the tournament off the back of a disappointing UEFA Nations League campaign, which resulted in third in their group. However, they still avoided relegation to League B. They beat Sweden in the World Cup play-off to qualify for the tournament and then went on to defeat Wales. A heavy defeat in Belgium dampened the mood. Then they attained a creditable 1-1 draw in the Netherlands. However, these were followed by losses to the Netherlands and Belgium in the return matches. They won in Wales at the group’s culmination, though, to do the double over them. They will look to score goals in the first match against Mexico. If they can take a point or even all three, they will then seek to exert dominance in the middle match versus the Saudis. Argentina and Mexico will also want to win their matches with the Middle Eastern nation, so Poland will not want to be disadvantaged. The final match against Argentina will be tough. The Poles will want to have at least four points going into this match as insurance, as they will not want the pressure of having to defeat an Argentina side which might have six points from six. Alternatively, suppose Argentina have already qualified, and they rest key players. In that case, it might, in theory, be more straightforward for Poland to attain a result.