The Round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup begins today.

Agency Brazil - The match between Argentina and Australia is the highlight of the first day of games in the round of 16 of the Qatar World Cup. The team of star Lionel Messi enters the field of the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium at 4pm (Brasilia time) this Saturday (3). 

The Argentinians arrive motivated for the match, after a convincing 2-0 victory over Poland that earned them the lead in Group C. But Lionel Scaloni's team may have a major setback, with attacking midfielder Di María becoming doubtful after complaining of pain.

In a press conference held last Friday (2), the Argentine national team coach said he does not expect an easy game against Australia: “It doesn’t surprise me that Australia is in the round of 16. They are a good team, they had a good qualifying campaign, they didn’t qualify directly for the World Cup, they did it in the playoffs. They have a tradition in World Cups and that makes them difficult.” 

Australia's coach, Graham Arnold, promised a hard fight against Argentina for a place in the quarterfinals: "No disrespect to Argentina or anything, but it's 11 against 11, and it's 10 blue shirts against 10 yellow shirts. It will be a battle."

But the World Cup Round of 16 will kick off earlier, at 12:00 PM, when the Netherlands will face the United States at the Khalifa International Stadium.

Despite not displaying any flashy football in the group stage, the Dutch national team has the second-best record in the competition, with 7 points and a positive goal difference of +4 (the best record belongs to England, with 7 points and a goal difference of +7).

And the Netherlands coach, Louis Van Gaal, made it clear that his team will need to play better than they have so far to overcome a team that is having a good World Cup in Qatar: "The USA have shown that they have an excellent team, I would even say one of the best teams, a team that is well-tuned, [but] it's nothing we can't overcome."

However, the American team is still waiting to find out whether or not it will be able to count on its technical leader, striker Christian Pulisic. The Chelsea (England) player suffered a pelvic injury in the victory over Iran last Tuesday (29) and coach Gregg Berhalter expects him to take the field against the Dutch: “He looks very good [Pulisic], but we will have to see him on the field today to confirm that”. 

Subscribe to 247, Support via Pix, Subscribe to TV 247, in the channel Cuts 247 and watch: