The 2022 FIFA World Cup so soon, enters into the knockout phase and one of the pairings, will be the tie between Lionel Messi's Argentina and Australia at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium on Saturday evening.
Both countries will be clashing with each other for the first time at the World Cup finals despite meeting each other on seven occasions, notably their fascinating six-goal thriller in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.
The Albiceleste despite a poor start to the campaign, having astonishingly lost 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in their first game, managed to finish as winners of their group with two straight wins.
Goals from Lionel Messi and substitute Enzo Fernandes powered them back to winning ways with a 2-0 triumph over Mexico before wrapping up with another victory over initial group leaders Poland to emerge champions of Group C.
However, the Socceroos after a bizarre start to the campaign, after losing 4-1 to holders France, still managed to join them sail through to the next round.
They defeated Tunisia in their second group game before nipping on Mathew Leckie's 60th minute goal to complete another important win over Denmark to advance after a tight contest.
HEAD TO HEAD
The two countries have met each other on seven occasions, with Argentina proving their superiority over the Socceroos with five wins, one loss and just a draw.
TEAM NEWS
Both Lionel Scaloni and Graham Arnold have a full strength squad to select for the epic tie coming up.
PROBABLE XI
Argentina: Martinez, Molina, Acuna, Otamendi, Lisandro, Enzo, De Paul, McAlister, Di Maria, Messi, Alvarez
Argentina: Ryan, Degenek, Aziz, Roules, Soutarr, Mooy, Irvine, Leckie, Goodwin, Duke, McGree
TV CHANNELS
SuperSport, GTV Sports+, beIN SPORTS, BT Sports, SkySports, ORTB, DStv Now, GOTV, Metro TV, Globe TV
KICKOFF: 1900GMT (7:00pm)
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