The Round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup begins on Saturday with the Netherlands, the United States, Argentina and Australia.
A new competition begins. After the group stage with its twists and turns, put in the Round of 16 for the 2022 World Cup, Saturday 3 December, with two great posters in the programme. First in Group A, the Netherlands will face the United States, while Argentina, who rose to the top of Group C, will play Australia, runners-up to France in Group D.
4pm: Netherlands-US (beIN Sports 1)
Orange opens the ball. Left at the top of an affordable group (Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar), Louis van Gaal’s Netherlands will have to raise their game against the United States from Greg Berhalter, who qualified thanks to his success against Iran (1-0). For this, the Dutch can count on the phenomenon of Cody Gakpo (23), the author of three goals in as many matches at the World Cup.
On the other hand, the Americans will rely on their collective cohesion, which enabled them in the previous round to draw with England (0-0). If the Netherlands won four of their five encounters against the United States, their most recent friendly, in June 2015, they lost (3-4). There is no doubt that Memphis Depay or Daley Blind, who are in the starting line-up at the time, would not make the mistake of underestimating their opponents on Saturday in Doha.
8pm: Argentina-Australia (TF1 and beIN Sports 1)
The Argentine ogre wants to crush the Australian national team. After an accidental defeat against Saudi Arabia (2-1), Argentina recovered perfectly in the 2022 World Cup, after two wins against Mexico (2-0) and Poland (2-0). The Argentine national team dreams of a third world title after 1978 and 1986, and it is the favorite, especially since Australia is only playing the second round of 16 in its history, after the 2006 World Cup (a 1-0 defeat against Italy).
Able to sink against France (4-1) in addition to beating Denmark (1-0), but the Australians, led by Graham Arnold, could create problems for the Argentines, who have not been defeated since their first encounter, in July 1988 (4-1). It is up to Lionel Scaloni and his troopers to do what is necessary to beat Australia for the fifth time in a row, and to prepare as much as possible for the quarter-final match against the Netherlands or the United States, Friday 9 December.
