International fixtures: Argentina vs Australia match preview, analysis, stats, possible line-ups, H2H

Australia and Argentina are set to lock horns in a friendly match on June 15 at the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing, China.

Lionel Scaloni’s side are looking to progress with their incredible form. The World Champions have lost just one game in their past 45 fixtures, the 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opening World Cup match.

La Albiceste are coming from a high in their last international clash where they recorded huge success in a heavy 7-0 thrashing of Curacao. Lionel Messi was on the scoresheet thrice for the defending Copa America Champions , with Nicolas Gonzalez, Enzo Fernandez, Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Montiel also finding the back of the net in that match.

Meanwhile, Australia sustained a 2-1 loss on home ground to Ecuadorians in the second franchise of a double-header fixture four days after claiming a 3-1 win over the South Americans. Borello’s sixteenth minute strike was cancelled out by Pervis Estupinan’s second-half effort before Pacho’s late winner helped salvage a victory for the visitors.

Both sides most recently faced off in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar last December where Lionel Scaloni’s side posted a 2-1 victory over the AFC nation to reach the quarter-finals. Lionel Messi opened the scoring for La Albiceste five minutes past the half-hour mark with a low strike before Julian Alvarez doubled for the South Americans. The Socceroos pulled one back courtesy of a deflection from Enzo Fernandez but the eventual World Cup winners managed to see the game out despite intense pressure from the opposition in the closing moments.

Argentina vs Australia key stats

• Argentina are unbeaten in the past eight games. They have not conceded defeat since their 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia on November 22 in their opening fixture of the 2022 World Cup.
• With the exemption of the 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia, Argentina have not tasted defeat in 45 games to date. The World Champions’ other loss came at the hands of Brazil, a 2-0 defeat in the semis of the Copa America in July 2019.
• In eight games played against The Socceroos, La Albiceste have lost only once, a 4-1 defeat on July 14, 1988. They have a five game winning streak against the AFC side.
• Argentina last loss to any team came against an Asian side, Saudi Arabia.
• In Australia’s past five meetings with CONMEBOL sides, they have won once, drawn twice(with one progression to penalties) and lost twice.
• Argentina talisman, Lionel Messi, has scored ten goals in the past eight outings for La Albiceste. He has found the back of the net in six consecutive games.
• In past six outings, The Socceroos have recorded three losses and three wins apiece.
• The tie against Australia would mark Graham Arnold’s 55th game in charge of the Australia senior men’s team and the 40th in his return spell, having taken hold of the reins in July 2018.

Argentina vs Australia Head-to-Head

Matches played: 8

Argentina: 6 wins

Australia: 1 win

Games drawn: 1

Past five meetings:

Argentina 1-0 Australia; 17 Nov 1993 (FIFA World Cup)

Argentina 2-0 Australia; 30 Jun 1995 (International friendly)

Australia 2-4 Argentina; 18 Jun 2005 (FIFA Confederations Cup)

Australia 0-1 Argentina; 11 Sep 2007 (International friendly)

Argentina 2-1 Australia; 03 Dec 2022 (FIFA World Cup)

Past five matches:

Argentina:

(N) 2-2 Netherlands

(N) 3-0 Croatia

(N) 3-3 France

(H) 2-0 Panama

(H) 7-0 Curacao

Form: DWDWW

Australia:

(N) 1-0 Tunisia

(N) 1-0 Denmark

(N) 1-2 Australia

(H) 3-1 Ecuador

(H) 1-2 Ecuador

Form: WWLWL

Argentina vs Australia squad announcements

Argentina: Emiliano Martinez (Goalkeeper), Geronimo Ruili (Goalkeeper), Walter Bentiez (Goalkeeper), Nicolas Otamendi (Defender), Marcos Acuna (Defender), Nicolas Tagliafico (Defender), German Pezella (Defender), Nahuel Molina (Defender), Gonzalo Montiel (Defender), Cristian Romero (Defender), Leonardo Balerdi (Defender), Facundo Medina (Defender), Rodrigo De Paul (Midfielder), Leandro Paredes (Midfielder), Giovani Lo Celso (Midfielder), Guido Rodriguez (Midfielder), Exequiel Palacios (Midfielder), Alexis Mac Allister (Midfielder), Enzo Fernandez (Midfielder), Lucas Ocampos (Midfielder), Thiago Almada (Midfielder), Facundo Buonanotte (Midfielder), Lionel Messi (Forward), Angel Di Maria (Forward), Nicolas Gonzalez (Forward), Julian Alvarez (Forward), Giovanni Simeone (Forward), Alejandro Garnacho (Forward).

Australia: Matthew Ryan (Goalkeeper), Joe Gauci (Goalkeeper), Tom Glover (Goalkeeper), Harry Souttar (Defender), Kye Rowles (Defender), Nathaniel Atkinson (Defender), Joel King (Defender), Gianni Stensness (Defender), Ryan Strain (Defender), Jordan Bos (Defender), Alessandro Circati (Defender), Ajdin Hrustic (Midfielder), Riley McGree (Midfielder), Connor Metcalfe (Midfielder), Keanu Baccus (Midfielder), Denis Genreau (Midfielder), Cameron Devlin (Midfielder), Aiden O’Neill (Midfielder), Alexander Robertson (Midfielder), Matthew Leckie (Forward), Jamie Maclaren (Forward), Mitchell Duke (Forward), Brandon Borello (Forward).

Argentina vs Australia key players

Argentina:

Lionel Messi:

Typical and quintessential of La Pulga, Messi would be leading the cause against The Socceroos on Thursday night. The Argentine maestro has been in such fine form for La Albiceste ever since the South Americans lifted their third World Cup trophy in Qatar back in December. The former PSG forward has scored in six straight games for Lionel Scaloni’s side including helping out with a hat-trick in the recent 7-0 demolition of Curacao. At the global outing in Qatar, Messi attempted 29 shots with 18 of those being on target. This ranked him in the 99th percentile for both shots taken and shots on target. Ahead of the game against The Socceroos, Messi’s outstanding stats rank him as the most prolific in terms of striking the ball with both teams combined.

Distribution wise, the 35-year old was on a low of 345 passes but only cooked up 51 of those passes wrongly with an impressive pass completion rate of 85.39%.

Argentina vs Australia possible line-ups

Argentina

4-3-3: Martinez, Tagliafico, Otamendi, Romero, Molina, Mac Allister, Fernandez, De Paul , Di Maria, Messi, Alvarez.

Australia

4-4-2: Ryan, King, Rowles, Souttar, Atkinson, McGree, O’Neill, Baccus, Leckie, Duke, Borello.