Our prediction for this match:
Argentina
Match Time & Date:
15/06/2023
05:00 AM
Prediction: 3-1
Australia
Argentina and Australia take on each other at Workers’ Stadium in Beijing in the replay of the World Cup last 16. La Albiceleste defeated the Socceroos at the showpiece tournament in Qatar and Scaloni’s men are seen as favourites to win Thursday’s clash as well. The likes of Paulo Dybala, Julio Alvarez, and Lautaro Martinez have been omitted, but Leo Messi is likely to prove a handful to the opposition back-line. New faces in the Argentina squad are Walter Benitez, Facundo Medina, Leonardo Balerdi, Giovani Simeone, Alejandro Garnacho, and Facundo Buonanotte.
Australia, on the other hand, are hungry for revenge, but seeing that Graham Arnold is likely to mix the squad, we are tempted to put our money on the World Cup winners. Experienced midfielder Aaaron Mooy has been left out of the squad, while Melbourne City midfielder Aiden O’Neill is pushing for a start after coming as a substitute in a 2-1 loss to Ecuador.
Highlighted Player (Lionel Messi):
Lionel Messi is regarded as one of the best players in the history of football. He was born on 24 June, 1987 in Rosario and he began his football career at Newell’s Old Boys. At age 10 he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, but having realized his potential at a young age, Barcelona decided to pay for his treatment.
Messi joined Barca in 2001 and he has been playing for the Camp Nou outfit ever since. The Argentine magician has won eight La Liga trophies with Barca and he helped the Catalan giants lift no less than four Champions League titles (2005/2006, 2008/2009, 2010/2011, 2014/2015).
In the 2011/2012 La Liga campaign Messi scored 50 goals for Barca, while netting 14 goals in the 2011/2012 Champions League campaign. The five-time Golden Ball award winner has established himself as Barcelona’s all-time top scorer, but he has yet to win a trophy with Argentina national team at major tournaments. Leo Messi, though, has won Olympic Gold Medal (2008) and FIFA World Youth Championship (2005), with la Albiceleste.
Highlighted Team (Australia):
Australia are a member of the Asian Football Confederation as they left the Oceania Football Confederation in 2006. The Socceroos made it to the World Cup finals for the first time back in 1974, but they failed to make it to the knockout stages of the showpiece tournament in Germany. In 2006, though, the Australians did well to advance to the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup, but eventual champions Italy proved to be a big catch for Guus Hiddink’s troops.
Australia participated at the World Cup finals in 2010 and 2014 as well, but they failed to impress at the tournaments in South Africa and Brazil respectively. In 2015 the Socceroos won the Asian Cup trophy, with the team beating South Korea in the title game and that is regarded as the team’s biggest success.
Tim Cahill is considered one of the most famous footballers that played for Australia and it has to be noted that the former Premier League star scored his 48th goal for the Socceroos in a 1-0 win over UAE in September, 2016.
Man City 
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Nottingham Forest 
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