Argentina and Belgium face off in the World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, and while both teams have some very good players and neither has played their best yet, it could be Argentina’s stars that steal the show. They will need to be great to get to the semifinal.
World Cup Odds: Argentina +115, Belgium +260, Draw +235
Odds To Advance: Argentina -172, Belgium +147
Why Argentina Can Win
As long as Lionel Messi continues to play at this level, Argentina will be in the running for their third World Cup title. Messi had two or three players on him whenever he touched the ball in a 1-0 win over Switzerland, but he managed to sneak away and set up Angel Di Maria for the match-winner in the 118th minute. The play of Di Maria was also encouraging because Messi has largely carried this team by himself for most of the World Cup, but he has to threaten the opposing keeper more often as he had 12 shots on goal against the Swiss with 10 on target, but nothing really dangerous.
Argentina has done well to deal with the pressure of playing in South America, where they have to make it to the finals or bust, it seems. But Belgium has the best attack they have played so far and their defenders will have to step up their game to keep Argentina in the World Cup.
Why Belgium Can Win
Belgium has played a quietly efficient game in the World Cup, and because so many people jumped on them as a darkhorse, the expectations got far too high and it is pretty incredible that they have managed to make it this far. Their 2-1 win in extra time over the United States was tighter than it looked because American keeper Tim Howard made a number of fantastic saves; Belgium outplayed their opponents and deserved to go through. Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku scored and they have played well below their stands for most of the World Cup, so they might have gained a little confidence going into this game.
Manager Marc Wilmots knows all about the pressure of a World Cup as he scored four goals in the tournament as a player, the most of any Belgian player. He has really done a good job at keeping his team in the game when they looked like the pressure was getting to them with key substitutions, and he might have the edge over Argentina counterpart Alejandro Sabella.
Outlook
This will be the third time that these two have met, and both previous meetings came in the World Cup as Belgium won 1-0 in the group stage in 1982, but Argentina got revenge in 1986 with a 2-0 victory in the semifinals; they went on to win the World Cup. This is going to be a tough test for Argentina, but when the going gets tough, they have Messi and to a lesser extent, Di Maria, two individuals who could be labeled as game-changers.
Pick: Argentina
