Group C Predictions 2022

The third of the groups features one of the favourites to win the tournament outright, Argentina. There are always grand expectations for this giant of world Football but perhaps this time the stars might align for them to go all the way. Lionel Messi, arguably one the finest players to ever play the game, will know this is his last chance to get his hands on Football’s biggest prize.

Firstly though, they will need to concentrate on getting out of a group containing some potentially tricky opponents. Mexico, Poland, and Saudi Arabia are the remaining teams in the group and they will surely feel they are fighting it out between themselves to get through along with Argentina. The highlight of this group will surely be the match between Argentina and Mexico.

Argentina

Argentina goes into this tournament on a very good run of form, they are unbeaten in 35 matches having not lost since the semi-final defeat to Brazil in the Copa America in 2019. If they get through the group stage without losing a match they will match Italy’s record of 38 matches unbeaten. The South American giants have won two international trophies in the past four years, the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 Finalissima, although it’s debatable whether much importance can be given to the latter.

They qualified in impressive fashion for this tournament and have conceded only two goals in their last eight matches. They are currently ranked third in the world and are also third favourites to win the tournament, sandwiched between France and England. They have a very impressive squad packed with top players in all positions and they have experience all over the pitch.

The only negative could be their defence which has proved to be a little unreliable. The standout player in their team is Lionel Messi, but they have many other stars such as Angel Di Maria, Lisandro Martinez, Lautaro Martinez and Paulo Dybala. It is almost unimaginable to think that Argentina won’t win this group.

Saudi Arabia

This will be Saudi Arabia’s sixth appearance at a World Cup finals. To the average football fan, most of their squad is made up of unknown players as their whole squad plays in the Saudi domestic league, a real rarity in modern Football. They qualified impressively, winning their group ahead of Australia and Japan, only losing once in the process. Recent matches have not been great as they had a poor 2021 Arab Cup and lost matches against Venezuela and Colombia.

They are well organised defensively so they will base their game on stopping their opponents from scoring. However, it must be said that they do lack quality in the squad overall and they will struggle to score. It is hard to see Saudi Arabia finishing anything other than last in this group and they will do well to avoid heavy defeats against their opponents.

Mexico

We will be eager to see Mexico’s eighth consecutive appearance at a World Cup finals. They have a good record of getting out of the group stages but have been eliminated in the Round of 16 at each tournament since 1994. It is worth noting that the only time they have gone any further was in 1970 and in 1986 and on both occasions they were hosting the tournament.

Mexico qualified in the second spot, behind Canada but ahead of USA but 2021 saw them lose in two finals, both against the USA. The squad still appears to be a work-in-progress and the line-ups seem to change regularly which indicates that their manager, Tata Martino, still isn’t sure of his best team heading into the tournament. Historically, Mexico tend to perform quite well at major tournaments, they are tough team and will prove a challenge to all of their opponents.

They have some good individual players such as Hirving Lozano and Edson Alvarez and a good team spirit. The negative against them is they do not have a settled line-up, as previously mentioned, so preparation hasn’t been ideal. Second place should be a possibility though with the key match likely to be against Poland.

Poland

This is the first time Poland have qualified for consecutive World Cups since 2006 and they did so by finishing second in their group to England. In the playoffs they got the better of Sweden to book their place in Qatar. They didn’t have a good Euro 2020 as they finished in last place in their group and made an early exit. They also finished last at the World Cup in 2018 so they will be hoping to at least avoid continuing that unwelcome record.

Results of late have been mixed, they have beaten England, Spain, the Netherlands, and Wales but also lost heavily to Belgium. They continue to rely heavily on star striker Robert Lewandowski, who is widely regarded as one of the best strikers playing the game currently.

The rest of the team is solid, if unspectacular and they will need to come up with a way of not only getting Lewandowski involved in the games but also will need to find alternative sources of goals. As previously mentioned, the key match is likely to be against Mexico to decide who will finish in second spot.

Conclusion

This is likely to be an entertaining group and we can expect some reasonably high-scoring matches. The teams will have different approaches to the game and Saudi and Poland will certainly both have a point to prove. They will want to improve on their recent records at tournaments. Poland have the players in the squad to join Argentina in the next round but questions remain as to whether they can find a way to work together.

The same can be said of Mexico who will be slightly favoured to join Argentina in the next round but will need to improve. Argentina will know they will be respected but will also be a target, they should have more than enough to qualify in first place but must guard against complacency.

The match of the group will definitely be Argentina against Mexico, but the most important game is likely to be Mexico against Poland with the winner being in pole position to go through. Another interesting matchup will be Messi against Lewandowski, two of the world’s best forwards clashing early on in the tournament.

Once again, it would be a big shock if the top-seeded team didn’t win the group. But the battle for second is likely to be a very tight one with Poland and Mexico both able to say they should be regarded as favourites. Mexico have the better world ranking, as they are in 12th and Poland down in position 26, but in terms of outright odds, they is very little to separate the two.