While Messi has officially said that this would be his last World Cup, he would be looking to unleash his best in Group C. Argentina is clear favourite to top the group, but they will be equally challenged by Mexico, Poland and Saudi Arabia who have been fared in their group. Argentina are not only the favourites to top the group but are one of the title contenders. Another team from Group C is a crowd favourite and this is Lewandowski’s Poland. Despite being behind in ranks the Polish side will look to spoil the party for Mexico. But as they say – football is very unpredictable and on the given day every nation can produce unexpected results.
Argentina
Ever since Messi won the 2009 Ballon d'Or out of the last 14 occasions, Ronaldo and Messi have dominated the list 12 times. Talking about dominating the world of football on their own, Messi alone has 7 Ballon d'Or in his cabinet. But when it comes to performing on the international stage, he has faced some major upsets. While the jinx finally broke when Messi finally had an international silverware after lifting the Copa America in 2021 but before that he even came close to lifting the FIFA World Cup in 2014 when Argentina was defeated by Germany in the finals. While Messi has finally adapted to his time at PSG, he has stronger teammates performing at the highest level.
3rd ranked Argentina would be looking to end their 36 years wait. The last time La Albiceleste lifted the World Cup was way back in 1986 where Deigo Maradona starred for them and now after 36 years, they would be looking to repeat the same under star player Messi.
The 2022 squad looks much more potent than the 2014 one. In goal they have the safe hands of Martinez who was the reason behind their Copa America success. The rise of Otamendi & Marinez for their respective clubs have redefined Argentina’s defence. Messi, Di Maria, Martinez, Dybala & Gonzalez can run through any defence on the given day.
Fixtures: Nov. 22 vs. S. Arabia, Nov. 26- vs. Mexico, Nov. 30 - vs. Poland
Argentina's Squad:
Goalkeepers: Franco Armani, Geronimo Rulli, Emiliano Martinez
Defenders: Juan Foyth, Nicolas Tagliafico, Gonzalo Montiel, German Pezzella, Marcos Acuña, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Lisandro Martinez, Nahuel Molina
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Exequiel Palacios, Alejandro Gomez, Guido Rodriguez, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernanez
Forwards: Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria, Nicolas Gonzalez, Joaquin Correa, Paulo Dybala, Lautaro Martinez .
Mexico
Touted as the World Cup regulars, Mexico would be looking to end their knock-out exits behind this World Cup. The 13th ranked side will be playing their 17th World Cup, only behind Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Germany. Having featured in the last 16 in previous 7 occasions, The El Tri would be looking to end their quarterfinal drought. With Javier Hernandez not featuring, Mexico lacks a quality striker, forcing their reliance on the wing.
Having finished behind Canada in the qualifiers, This Mexican side has unable to convert their chances to goal. Many experts have predicted their early exit citing lack of potent players in the side. On paper the side may look decent with the likes Raul Jimenez, Hirving Lozano, Hector Herrera & Edson Alvarez all featuring for their club sides make a solid team, but the squad still lacks the quality unlike their predecessors.
The recent run of form goes against the Mexican side but the only task for them would be to keep Robert Lewandowski quiet in their encounter against Poland. With Argentina the clear favourites from this group, Mexico needs to get par with Saudi Arabia & Poland.
Mexico's squad:
Goalkeepers: Guillermo Ochoa (Club America), Alfredo Talavera (FC Juarez), Rodolfo Cota (Leon)
Defenders: Jorge Sanchez (Ajax), Jesus Gallardo (Monterrey), Kevin Alvarez (Pachuca), Gerardo Arteaga (Genk), Hector Moreno (Monterrey), Nestor Araujo (Club America), Cesar Montes (Monterrey), Johan Vasquez (Cremonese)
Midfielders: Andres Guardado (Real Betis), Hector Herrera (Houston Dynamo), Edson Alvarez (Ajax), Luis Chavez (Pachuca), Erick Gutierrez (PSV Eindhoven), Uriel Antuna (Cruz Azul), Orbelin Pineda (AEK Athens), Carlos Rodriguez (Cruz Azul), Robert Alvarado (Guadalajara), Luis Romo (Monterrey)
Forwards: Raul Jimenez (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Hirving Lozano (Napoli), Alexis Vega (Chivas), Henry Martin (Club America), Rogelio Funes Mori (Monterrey).
Poland
Fortune favours the brave and luck favours to those who fight for it. The above lines work perfectly for Poland as they were second in qualifying behind England and secured their spot in Qatar with a 2-0 playoff win over Sweden. FIFA gave Poland a bye to the final playoff round after Russia were suspended. The Polish side have featured 8 times in the mega showdown, but their recent performances are from their best. Their best came in 1974 and 1982 when they finished 3rd but apart from this, they have always had early outset from the group stages, and they would be looking to end that in this edition.
Robert Lewandowski their highest scorer would be looking to the European side ahead in the tournament but apart from the Barcelona star the squad lacks quality and experience to perform at the highest level. Mexico has a better chance of qualifying for the knockouts considering their exploits in previous editions.
Poland's squad
Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczesny, Bartlomiej Dragowski, Lukasz Skorupski
Defenders: Jan Bednarek, Kamil Glik, Robert Gumny, Artur Jedrzejczyk, Jakub Kiwior, Mateusz Wieteska, Bartosz Bereszynski, Matty Cash, Nicola Zalewski
Midfielders: Krystian Bielik, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Kamil Grosicki, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Jakub Kaminski, Michal Skoras, Damian Szymanski, Sebastian Szymanski, Piotr Zielinski, Szymon Zurkowski
Forwards: Krystian Bielik, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Kamil Grosicki, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Jakub Kaminski, Michal Skoras, Damian Szymanski, Sebastian Szymanski, Piotr Zielinski, Szymon Zurkowski.
Saudi Arabia
Veteran French coach Herve Renard is the man at helm but having a result in any of three encounters seems unlikely. The Green Falcons have qualified after 28 years, but their last-16 exit in 1994 remains their best performance. Having gotten better of Belgium in the same tournament the Saudi team cannot be taken lightly. Going into the tournament as the underdogs, they need some luck to repeat their 94 performances.
They have featured in 6 World Cups before this but facing pre-tournament favourites Argentina, a Mexico & Robert Lewandowski’s Poland, it’s hard to see where Saudi Arabia will pick up a point, let alone how they can advance from Group C.
Saud Arabia's squad
Goalkeepers: Mohamed Al-Owais (Al-Hilal), Nawaf Al-Aqidi (Al-Nassr), Mohamed Al-Yami (Al-Ahly)
Defenders: Yasser Al-Shahrani (Al-Hilal), Ali Al-Bulaihi (Al-Hilal), Abdulelah Al-Amri (Al-Nassr), Abdullah Madu (Al-Nassr), Hassan Tambakti (Al-Shabab), Sultan Al-Ghanam (Al-Nassr), Mohammed Al-Breik (Al-Hilal), Saud Abdulhamid (Al-Hilal)
Midfielders: Salman Al-Faraj (Al-Hilal), Riyadh Sharahili (Abha), Ali Al-Hassan (Al-Nassr), Mohamed Kanno (Al-Hilal), Abdulelah Al-Malki (Al-Hilal), Sami Al-Najei (Al-Nassr), Abdullah Otayf (Al-Hilal), Nasser Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal), Abdulrahman Al-Aboud (Ittihad), Salem Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal), Hattan Bahebri (Al-Shabab)
Forwards: Fahad Al-Muwallad (Al-Shabab), Haitham Asiri (Al-Ahly), Saleh Al-Shehri (Al-Hilal) Firas Al-Buraikan (Al-Fateh)
