Saturday World Cup Open Thread: Poland vs Saudi Arabia / France vs Denmark / Argentina vs Mexico / Japan vs Costa Rica

Note: I am including Sunday morning’s match in this post so I don’t have to think about it when I’m prepping the Sunday Garden Chat.

Poland vs. Saudi Arabia

A couple of enforced changes for Saudi Arabia but Poland have gone more attacking.

🇵🇱 Poland vs Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦#TelegraphFootball #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/LTnehSw9ji

— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) November 26, 2022

(There’s an extremely… unfriendly satire clip about Saudi Arabia being widely circulated, for some reason)

SportsMole:

Poland take on surprise group leaders Saudi Arabia on Saturday, in a crucial battle for qualification in World Cup 2022 Group C.

Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty as the Bialo-czerwoni drew 0-0 to Mexico in Tuesday’s opener, while their opponents beat Argentina to pull off one of the greatest World Cup upsets in living memory…

If Poland are to stand any chance of progressing, a victory is vitally important here, and they will have to be on their toes against a high-pressing Saudi Arabia side, who will still be riding the wave of their greatest ever victory…

Salem Al-Dawsari’s spectacular winning goal on Tuesday will go down in World Cup folklore, as the 31-year-old’s sensational curling finish condemned Argentina to their first defeat in 36 outings.

Herve Renard’s side impressed with their bold style of play, incorporating a dangerously high and aggressive line, springing the offside trap an incredible 10 times.

In the middle, Mohamed Kanno played the role of midfield enforcer almost perfectly, while the Hassan Al Tambakti put in a heroic performance in the centre of defence.

With three points already secured, another result here would put them well on their way to a first run to the knockout stages since 1994.

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France vs. Denmark

Predicting how France vs Denmark will play out today https://t.co/PDmxKTEI6F

— The Independent (@Independent) November 26, 2022

The Independent:

France will look to make it two wins out of two at the World Cup when they take on Denmark in Group D.

Olivier Giroud scored twice in the 4-1 win over Australia to move level with Thierry Henry’s all-time France record.

The striker could take the record for his own if he scores his 52nd international goal, while Kylian Mbappe will also look to add to his record after getting off the mark.

Denmark were held to a 0-0 draw by Tunisia in their opening match as Christian Eriksen made an emotional return to the major tournament stage…

Denmark may have won their last two games against France but they have both arrived in Qatar as different teams. Denmark looked a little stale in their opening draw against Tunisia while France looked revitalised against Australia.

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Argentia vs Mexico

2022 FIFA World Cup: How to stream today's Argentina vs. Mexico game https://t.co/VZ54p6KPZu

— CBS Essentials (@CBSessentials) November 26, 2022

SportsMole:

With their World Cup hopes already on the line, Argentina seek to overcome their opening game calamity on Saturday, as they tackle Group C rivals Mexico.

While the Albiceleste kicked off their quest for a third global crown by losing to rank outsiders Saudi Arabia, their Central American counterparts survived a scare to draw with Poland on Tuesday.

Since losing to Brazil in the 2019 Copa America, Argentina had embarked on a national record 36-game unbeaten run, and as reigning South American champions, arrived among most pundits’ favourites for the final four at least.

Yet, all that momentum counted for little on the first day of their World Cup campaign, as Lionel Scaloni’s side let an early advantage slip from their grasp during the space of six second-half minutes at Lusail Stadium…

Now making their eighth consecutive World Cup appearance, the Mexicans have been eliminated at the last 16 stage in each of their last seven attempts, and ex-Argentina coach Martino is the man tasked with bringing a halt to that trend by defying expectation and making the quarter-finals.

La Seleccion last reached that point of the competition as hosts in 1986, when Saturday’s opponents went on to lift the trophy thanks to a Diego Maradona masterclass on Mexican soil.

Before this year’s squad can dream of emulating such a feat, though, they may well need to at least secure a second point in Lusail, or their hopes of progressing will be left hanging by a thread.

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Japan vs Costa Rica

Tomorrow World Cup match, Japan vs. Costa Rica! A Special illustration by @nomnii (BLUELOCK)

BLUELOCK project continues! 👀 #FIFAWorldCup #サッカー日本代表

✨More: https://t.co/3R6bXihQB3 pic.twitter.com/LQhsgLGXlp

— AnimeTV チェーン (@animetv_jp) November 26, 2022

Japan Today, “Confident Japan cannot underestimate Costa Rica“:

Nearly 30 years on, Japan has finally buried the “Tragedy of Doha.” That moment in 1993 when Iraq scored a last-minute equalizer against Japan in Doha to hand a World Cup spot to South Korea instead of Japan has haunted Japanese soccer for three decades. Japan’s 2-1 win over Germany in their opening World Cup match in Doha on Wednesday has now wiped that painful loss from the memory banks. Doha will now be remembered for glory, not tragedy.

On the same day in Qatar, Japan’s next opponents, Costa Rica, were hammered 7-0 by Spain, which naturally will lead many to believe that Japan can cruise past the minnows from Central America. But 7-0 defeats are rarely true reflections of a team’s status. In terms of results, they tend to be outliers, games where everything goes wrong. Japan should not underestimate the Costa Ricans.

This year, the Costa Rica national team has beaten the likes of Jamaica, Canada, the United States, Uzbekistan and Nigeria, conceding just six goals in 11 games, so you can’t read too much into the 7-0 loss against Spain. After the win, Spain’s Dani Olmo said: “I don’t think it was a question of Costa Rica being bad; it was about our team being strong.”

Teams that lose badly often recover in the next game and it’s unlikely that Costa Rica can get any worse. Spain strung together over a thousand passes and Costa Rica failed to register a shot at goal. That’s impressively bad, but we’re talking about one of the favorites in the tournament playing at their peak.

Costa Rica is ranked 31st in the world, only seven places lower than Japan, and they reached the quarterfinals eight years ago. While most of their players are from the country’s domestic league, they still have some experience, notably Paris Saint-German keeper Keylor Navas, Brian Oviedo, who used to play for Everton, and Joel Campbell who was with Arsenal. Sunderland attacker Jewison Bennette is also making a name for himself at the age of 18. That said, Costa Rica only finished fourth in CONCACAF qualifying and reached Qatar with a 1-0 win over New Zealand.

Japan, of course, will go into the game with confidence very high, but that is largely on the basis of 30 minutes of good football rather than 90 minutes…