Argentina v Mexico LIVE: Messi already fighting to rescue World Cup dream

La Albiceleste are one of the favourites to win this year's tournament in Qatar but were beaten 2-1 by Saudi Arabia in their opening game.

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Lionel Messi gave his side the lead but goals from Saleh Al Shehri and Salem Al Dawsari dramatically ended Argentina's 36-game unbeaten streak.

Lionel Scaloni's men can ill-afford another slip up in their quest for glory, as they face Mexico next.

Tata Martino's side, meanwhile, held Poland to a goalless draw in their first match and defeat to Argentina would put their long-running tradition of reaching the last-16 under severe threat.

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Argentina v Mexico: talkSPORT coverage

This World Cup Group C clash will take place on Saturday, November 26.

The match will at Lusail Stadium will kick-off at 7pm.

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Commentary will then come from Nigel Adderley and former England defender Stuart Pearce.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

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Argentina v Mexico: Squads and team news

Lisandro Martinez is pushing to be included from the start after Cristian Romero flatted to deceive against Saudi Arabia.

Julian Alvarez is another who could be introduced for Argentina, but both sides have no fresh injury concerns to contend with.

Argentina

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Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez, Geronimo Rulli, Franco Armani

Defenders: Nahuel Molina, Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, German Pezzella, Nicolas Otamendi, Lisandro Martinez, Marcos Acuna, Nicolas Tagliafico, Juan Foyth

Midfielders: Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Alexis Mac Allister, Guido Rodriguez, Alejandro Gomez, Enzo Fernandez, Exequiel Palacios

Forwards: Angel di Maria, Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Gonzalez, Joaquin Correa, Paulo Dybala, Lionel Messi

Mexico

Goalkeepers: Guillermo Ochoa, Alfredo Talavera, Rodolfo Cota

Defenders: Jorge Sanchez, Kevin Alvarez, Netor Araujo, Johan Vasquez, Hector Moreno, César Montes,Gerardo Arteaga, Jesus Gallardo

Midfielders: Andres Guardado, Hector Herrera, Carlos Rodriguez, Erick Gutierrez, Luis Chavez, Edson Alvarez, Orbelin Pineda, Luis Romo

Forwards: Alexis Vega, Hirving Lozano, Raul Jimenez, Roberto Alvarado, Uriel Antuna, Henry Martin, Rogelio Funes Mori

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Argentina v Mexico: What has been said?

Messi expressed his disappointment at the defeat after the match, but issued a rallying cry to Argentina's fans ahead of the next game.

Speaking via Argentina's official Twitter account, Messi said: "We knew that Arabia is a team with good players, that moves the ball well and that advances the line a lot. We work on it, but we speed up a bit.

"There are no excuses. We are going to be more united than ever. This group is strong and they have shown it. It is a situation that we did not have to go through in a long time.

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"Now we have to show that this is a real group. It's a very hard blow for everyone, we didn't expect to start like this.

"Things happen for a reason. We have to prepare for what's coming, we have to win or win and it depends on us".

Argentina v Mexico: Match stats

Argentina are unbeaten in their last 10 meetings with Mexico in all competitions (W7 D3) since a 1-0 loss in the 2004 Copa América.

Mexico have lost all three of their FIFA World Cup games against Argentina, going down 6-3 in 1930, 2-1 in 2006 and 3-1 in 2010. Only Austria (4 vs Italy) and Nigeria (5 vs Argentina) have faced an opponent more often in the competition while losing every time.

Argentina's defeat against Saudi Arabia on MD1 ended a run of 13 straight World Cup victories against non-European nations, since losing to Cameroon in 1990. They've never lost consecutive World Cup matches against non-European sides before.

Argentina have lost four of their last six World Cup matches (W1 D1), as many as they had in their previous 25 in the competition (W16 D5). They've lost their last two games at the tournament, only losing three in a row once before (between 1930 and 1958).

Following their 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia on MD1, Argentina are looking to avoid losing both of their first two games at a single edition of the World Cup for the first time in their history.

Mexico have failed to score in their last three World Cup matches; they have never drawn a blank in four straight games at the tournament, with this their 59th fixture at the finals.

After drawing their opener at the 2022 World Cup 0-0 against Poland, Mexico could fail to win both of their opening two matches of an edition of the tournament for the first time since 1978, when they lost all three of their group games.

Argentina players were flagged offside 10 times in their 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia - it's their highest on record (since 1966) in a single World Cup match, and already four more than they were caught offside in the entire 2018 tournament (6).

Lionel Messi has scored in each of his last five appearances for Argentina in all competitions - only once has he scored in six in a row, doing so between November 2011 and September 2012. His next goal will be his eighth at the World Cup (level with Diego Maradona and Guillermo Stabile), behind only Gabriel Batistuta (10) for Argentina in the competition.

Against Poland, Guillermo Ochoa became the first Mexico goalkeeper to save a penalty at the World Cup (excl. shootouts) since Opta have this data available (from 1966). The last 'keeper to save two penalties outside of shootouts at a single World Cup was USA's Brad Friedel in 2002 (2).

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