World Cup 2022: Argentina v Australia betting tips and odds
Lionel Messi had a first-half penalty saved but it made no difference as Argentina posted a 2-0 victory against Poland to reach the knockout stage as group winners to set up Saturday’s World Cup last-16 clash with Australia.
The two-time winners started their campaign with a stunning 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia, but back-to-back 2-0 wins against Mexico and Poland saw them advance.
Argentina have won five of the seven meetings with the Socceroos since their first encounter in 1988 and the way they have recovered from the shock of their defeat by the Saudis suggests they could go all the way again.
Second-half goals from Brighton’s Alex Mac Allister and Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez fired the Albiceleste to the top of the group, but head coach Lionel Scaloni is taking nothing for granted against the Socceroos.
He said: “We didn’t play that well against Saudi Arabia but we had the chances to win. We ended up losing so all matches are tough and if you think that the match against Australia is going to be easy you are wrong.”
Scaloni was on the money with his comment about opportunities as Argentina had three goals ruled out for offside in the first half and they also struggled to break down resolute Mexican and Polish defences in the opening 45 minutes.
Draw HT/Argentina at 5/1 in the World Cup betting for a third successive match involving Argentina also looks a possibility against an Australia team that were expected to finish bottom of their group.
Australia are appearing in the knockout stage for the first time in 16 years after Mathew Leckie’s superb second-half strike ensured back-to back victories at the World Cup finals for the first time in their history.
As well as the Aussies have performed in Qatar, Argentina have too many quality players to handle and another 2-0 victory inside 90 minutes at 4/1 is the next of our Argentina v Australia betting tips.
The favourites have potential goalscorers running throughout their squad and Messi is just 8/13 to score any time on Saturday.
Although he fluffed his lines from 12 yards, the PSG attacker won’t turn down the chance to make amends if given the opportunity, so we like the odds on Messi outscoring the opposition at 6/5.
Australia will struggle to break down a tough Argentina defence and we doubt they have the talent to get past their defence.
