2022 FIFA World Cup, Day 3: Match thread and discussion

It’s day three of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and your sleep schedule is about to get really jacked up.

It’s a four-match day at the tournament, with Group C and Group D making their bow in this competition, but the proceedings begin nice and early on Tuesday. The good news? You can probably watch the early game before work or school. The bad news? You’ll probably be a zombie for the rest of the day if you have actual stuff to do.

But there’s four interesting games on tap, with a couple favorites and somewhere between two and four dark horses featuring. It all kicks off with Argentina taking on Saudi Arabia in the first game — we saw that Saudi Arabia can be a stout defensive team when they played the USMNT in a tune-up friendly recently, but I think most think this should be a routine win for the mighty Argentina. This is Lionel Messi’s last dance at the World Cup and it really is now or never for the albiceleste of this generation.

Following that comes the Group D match of the day, with Denmark taking on Tunisia. Denmark are being tapped as dark horses, as they seem to have enough talent and team cohesion to potentially make a deep run, but don’t count out Tunisia entirely here. It’s a tough group but if they can get a win here they may be on their way to a first-ever advancement to the knockout stage.

Next up is a very tasty matchup, Mexico vs. Poland. There’s a sense of gloom, frankly, surrounding El Tri as this team enters the World Cup old and looking generally uninspired. But that’s been Poland’s calling card for quite some time — the Robert Lewandowski-led side nearly always qualify for tournaments, and then seem to lay eggs once they arrive. Something’s got to give here, and both teams are going to consider this a winnable game, so hopefully we see some fireworks.

Finally, the day wraps up with France vs. Australia. France are the defending champs, which on one hand means they should be a favorite for the tournament again, and they should be on paper. But the track record of defending champs is absolutely terrible, with the last team to repeat as World Cup winner is Brazil way back in 1962. Australia don’t seem like they are near their best, so this may end up all being moot, but there is a distinct feeling that France won’t be able to repel history. Whether they falter in this game or later, however, is anyone’s guess.

How to watch

Group C - Argentina vs. Saudi Arabia

Location: Lusail Stadium, Lusail

Kick-off time: 5:00am Eastern, 2:00am Pacific

Available TV: FS1 (English), Telemundo (Spanish)

Available streaming: Fox Sports Go (App/Website), Telemundo (Website), Peacock (Website), FuboTV (Free Trial), SiriusXM FC (Radio)

Group D - Denmark vs. Tunisia

Location: Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan

Kick-off time: 8:00am Eastern, 5:00am Pacific

Available TV: FS1 (English), Telemundo (Spanish)

Available streaming: Fox Sports (App/Website), Telemundo (Website), Peacock (Website), FuboTV (Free Trial), SiriusXM FC (Radio)

Group C - Mexico vs. Poland

Location: Stadium 974, Doha

Kick-off time: 11:00am Eastern, 8:00am Pacific

Available TV: Fox (English), Telemundo (Spanish)

Available streaming: Fox Sports (App/Website), Telemundo (Website), Peacock (Website), FuboTV (Free Trial), SiriusXM FC (Radio)

Group D - France vs. Australia

Location: Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah

Kick-off time: 2:00am Eastern, 11:00am Pacific

Available TV: Fox (English), Telemundo (Spanish)

Available streaming: Fox Sports (App/Website), Telemundo (Website), Peacock (Website), FuboTV (Free Trial), SiriusXM FC (Radio)

This thread will be your match thread. We don’t have many rules here. We just ask that you don’t insult each other personally and treat each other with respect. Debates can get heated and that’s fine, but name-calling and petty insults will get you banned. If you see a comment that you feel is out of line, please report it and it will be dealt with.