2022 World Cup group C preview

The first ever winter World Cup is less than two weeks away and quadruple headers will take place almost every day during the group stage. The action gets underway with Senegal versus Netherlands on Sunday 20th November. There are eight groups of four and we will be turning our attentions to group C.
Argentina face Saudi Arabia in the first game of the group at 11:00 CEST on 22nd November while Mexico take on Poland on the same day at 17:00 CEST. The top two from the group qualify from the group stages. Argentina are the huge favourites to progress to the last 16 while Mexico and Poland will likely battle it out for second spot. Saudi Arabia are clearly the underdogs, but they go into the tournament under no pressure.
Argentina should progress easily from this group and they are one of the favourites to win the World Cup. Given that Lionel Messi is 35, it is almost certainly his last chance to win international football's biggest trophy. Even though most of the spotlight will be on him, they have other top players to look out for. Lautaro Martinez and Man City's Julian Alvarez are dangerous up front while Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton) and Enzo Fernandez (Benfica) are also worth looking out for. They also have Emiliano Martinez in goal and Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez in defence and look a very strong outfit.
If we look at FIFA ranking, Mexico should go through in second and their battle with Poland will likely decide who finishes second. It is interesting to note that many of their players play in their domestic league and so may not be as well known in Europe, but they should not be taken lightly. Ochoa remains in goal while Andres Guardado (Betis), Edson Alvarez (Ajax) and Diego Lainez (Braga) also ply their trade in Europe. They also possess an explosive front line in Raul Jimenez, Jesus Corona and Hirving Lozano.
As for Poland, they will be hoping captain and star striker Robert Lewandowski is in form. He and Milik are their biggest attacking threats while Zielinski (Napoli) and Klich (Leeds) provide creativity in midfield. Other well known players include goalkeeper Szczesny and defenders Jan Bednarek, Kamil Glik and Matty Cash. They will fancy their chances of making the knockouts.
Saudi Arabia are the final team in the group and anything other than bottom place would be a huge surprise. All of their players play in their domestic league and they were beaten 5-0 by Russia and 1-0 by Uruguay at the last World Cup before recording a shock 2-1 win over Egypt in their final game. They have only made the knockouts on one occasion which was in 1994.
While you sit back and enjoy the matches, why not have a bet? Betway has odds of 1.15 for Argentina to beat Saudi Arabia, proof that they believe Scaloni's men will begin their campaign with three points.