Argentina vs. Australia, 2022 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 Day 1: Match thread and discussion

The knockout stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup begins today with the Round of 16, and after the USMNT plays the Netherlands, we have the second matchup of the day between Argentina and Australia. One team enters with all the expectations in the world, while the other is seeking to boldly go where it has never gone before.

Photo by JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images

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For Argentina, they arrive at the Round of 16 as the winners from Group C, but that triumph didn’t come easy. In a wild final matchday in the group stage, there was a point where Argentina was facing elimination from the tournament, but two second half goals combined with other results meant that La Albiceleste won the group and advanced.

Now, the real pressure arrives for this team. Each match could be the last World Cup match for legend Lionel Messi, and his team is determined to send him out a winner. The expectation from its tens of thousands of fans present in Qatar and the millions back home is to win the whole thing, so they enter this match thinking that it should just be another day at the office.

On the other side, Australia qualified for the Round of 16 on its own wild last matchday in the group stage, beating Denmark to clinch second in a group which also contained France and Tunisia. Australia qualified for the knockout stage of the World Cup for just the 2nd time in its history. They are quite literally playing with house money at this point, so they will throw everything they can at Argentina and hope that their run can continue.

How to watch

Argentina vs. Australia

Location: Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan

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

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

Available streaming: Fox Sports Go (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.