Argentina vs. Saudi Arabia will face each other at the Lusail Iconic stadium.
YOU CAN SEE Argentina vs. Saudi Arabia LIVE: Minute by minute of the match for Qatar 2022
Since the start of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, there has been a lot of talk about the huge absences with which most countries arrived, including France, which suffered the loss of huge figures like Paul Pogba, N'golo Kanté, or Karim Benzema. However, the situation has worsened, and even during the competition, the number of injured players continues to increase at alarming rates.
At the time of writing this note, four matches have been played, and Argentina is about to face Saudi Arabia, meaning that out of those four matches, three players have been injured. Almost one injured player per match played.
The first was Enner Valencia, who got hurt after scoring two goals in Ecuador vs. Qatar, although he was able to continue playing and was substituted in the second half. Then we have the case of Cheikhou Kouyaté, a Senegalese footballer who was injured after a peculiar blow caused by Frenkie de Jong.
However, the case of the Senegalese is somewhat different because he had to be carried off on a stretcher and was substituted. The same thing happened to the Iranian goalkeeper, Alireza Beiranvand, who was injured in the first half of the match against England and had to be substituted due to the intense pain he felt.
Incredibly, in almost every match of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, there has been at least one injured player, with only the United States vs. Wales match ending without any serious injuries.
Why are footballers getting injured in Qatar 2022?
The reason would simply be the physical overload that the players arrive with, as many of them were playing with their clubs until just a week ago. This did not happen in previous World Cups because, being held in June, they usually had a minimum of 30 days without playing at the professional level, as most seasons end before that month.