- Form: Argentina have won their last five games, beating Jordan (3-1) and Cape Verde (3-2 AET).
- Recent form: Egypt have won two, drawn two and lost one of their last five matches (W2, D2, L1), drawing their last two 1-1.
- Players to watch: Lionel Messi has scored four goals in Argentina's last five matches, whilst Mostafa Ziko has three goals in Egypt's last five.
Scale of the challenge for Egypt
Match outlook:
Argentina are the overwhelming favourites to win their matchup with Egypt and Lionel Scaloni's side have been priced up accordingly at 1.42 to secure passage to the quarter-finals. They've been such a well-drilled team since the veteran boss took charge in August 2018 and they will surely have too much quality for Egypt to handle on Tuesday, although they may not blow the Pharaohs away.
Goals and defence:
With Egypt having the capacity to keep it tight and play with a counter-attacking mentality, the best play could be to back over 2.5 goals at 2.02, which will cover an Argentina win by a couple of goals. Egypt have conceded 13 goals in their last ten competitive matches, an average of 1.30 goals per game, and Hossam Hassan's men are likely to be under pressure for much of the game against the South Americans.
Argentina can exploit Egypt's defensive structure
Hossam Hassan has made the Pharaohs a compact and organized team since taking the reins in February 2024 and they will look to frustrate Argentina at Atlanta Stadium before hitting them on the break.
However, with Argentina's 4-3-3 base set-up, which tends to tighten up without the ball, we could see the favourites dominate the ball and Egypt pinned back for long spells, which may be a tough ask for the underdogs.
Scaloni's men are perfect in their last ten with ten wins, no draws and no defeats in all competitions and they should have too much for Egypt. The most likely way of this game going is an Argentina victory, but one in which Egypt are kept relatively quiet.
Stick to the goal betting
- Both teams to score – No is priced at 1.51, and Egypt have no match for Messi and co.
- A 2-0 or 3-0 type result is probably most likely as Argentina do look to be a class above Egypt this week, whilst a Messi goal would be no surprise given his recent record for his country.
- Messi is still Argentina's spark and playmaker from deep, whilst Cristian Romero has also chipped in up top. He is the leading scorer for Argentina at this FIFA World Cup with one goal in one appearance (1.0 G/90), so we're backing the Albiceleste to secure a comfortable passage to the quarters.
