Tuesday World Cup Preview | Group C and Group D commence as four World Cup games take place today

Argentina, France and Denmark all feature today with the first of four games kicking off at 10am.

Day three of the 2022 FIFA World Cup takes place today following an eventful round of fixtures on Monday that saw England and the Netherlands get off the mark.

The Three Lions eased passed Iran with an impressive 6-2 victory, making it consecutive tournaments where they’ve put six past an opponent. After a lengthy pause in the game after a clash of heads between the Iran goalkeeper and defender, Jude Bellingham headed home their first. Bukayo Saka scored two on his first WC appearance while Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish all got on the scoresheet. Mehdi Taremi scored both goals for Iran.

The Netherlands were also victorious in their opening game but it took until the 84th minute for the deadlock to be broken. Cody Gakpo met a Frenkie de Jong cross to give Van Gaal’s men the lead after a tight encounter with Senegal and Davy Klaasen added a second with the last kick of the game.

Lastly, Group B finished with a 1-1 draw between Wales and USA. In what was a tenacious affair, Timothy Weah opened the scoring for the USA in the first half but his goal was cancelled out by a Gareth Bale penalty in the last 10 minutes of normal time to share the spoils.

Another action-packed day of World Cup fixtures awaits with Argentina getting Tuesday underway with an early 10am kick-off against Saudi Arabia.

Argentina v Saudi Arabia (KO 10am)

Lionel Messi and Argentina get their campaign underway against the lowest ranked side of the group, Saudi Arabia.

The two-time World Champions are currently unbeaten in their last 35 matches which will be bad news for Saudi Arabia who will look to better their record from 2018 of one group stage win.

Argentina have a number of world class players at their disposal, some of which were involved in their 2014 final loss to Germany as well as their more recent last-16 defeat to eventual champions France in 2018.

More than likely, this will be the final time Lionel Messi begins a World Cup campaign and Tuesday’s opener will be a glimpse of the magic he’s displayed over his previous four tournaments.

Denmark v Tunisia (KO 1pm)

Tournament dark horses Denmark will be looking to carry their impressive Euro 2020 form to the World Cup as they open their tournament against Tunisia.

Their last competitive game saw Kasper Hjulmand’s side beat World Champions France in the Nations League, which is a telling sign of the ability the Danes posses when they’re on the front foot.

They’ll be looking to improve on their last-16 finish in 2018 must get off to a winning start against Tunisia if they’re to build their confidence towards that stage. But Tunisia won’t be a turn-over who are competing in their sixth tournament, although they’ve failed to progress from their group in every tournament.

With France being the favourites to top Group D, Denmark will be determined to show the world that they have the quality to compete.

Mexico v Poland (KO 4pm)

Thirteen places separate Mexico and Poland in the FIFA Rankings but there’s not much between them in terms of quality as they open their campaigns against each other.

Mexico bettered Poland in terms of the 2018 World Cup with a last-16 finish compared to a group stage exit for the Europeans where they were rather disappointing on the big stage.

On top of this, Robert Lewandowski and co. are fresh from a Nations League campaign that resulted in two wins from six, both against Wales so they’re heading into the competition not particularly up to scratch.

They’ll face a Mexico team that have several world class players to their name and despite being ranked higher than Poland by a considerable amount, they won’t find their opening game easy by any stretch of the imagination.

France v Australia (KO 7pm)

The world champions France get their first title defence underway since 2002 and they’ve been handed several challenges in the lead up to their campaign.

Injuries to 2022 Ballon D’Or winner Karim Benzema and RB Leipzig talisman Christoper Nkunku have been huge blows for Didier Deschamps as his list of notable absentees increases by the day.

The decision not to choose a replacement for Benzema has been a controversial one, with players like Anthony Martial available but Deschamps has opted not to recruit the out of favour Manchester United striker.

However, their squad still contains some of the world’s finest talents and definitely enough to get the better of Australia who will be looking to benefit from some of the French exclusions.

Expect a young side to line out for France tonight, as they prepare to don the two stars above their badge at a World Cup for the first time.