✅Venezuela vs Argentina
✅World Cup, KO: 22:00 Oct 10, 2024, Estadio Monumental de Maturin
✅Venezuela go head-to-head against Argentina on Thursday. Read our Predictions and Betting Tips with Match Preview, Head-to-head stats (h2h) and Team Form Analysis.
Our prediction for this World Cup 2026 match:
Argentina will be aiming to recover from a 2-1 loss to Colombia when they take on Venezuela in an eagerly-awaited World Cup qualifier. La Vinotinto made a flying start to their WC qualifying campaign, but they are on a four-game winless run ahead of the visit of Argentina. As always, a man to watch in the home team will be Pachuca striker Salomon Rondon, with Gremio ace Yeferson Soteldo making the cut as well.
La Albiceleste, on the other hand, aim to retain top position in the standings and seeing that Leo Messi is fit for Thursday’s clash, away win should be considered. Aston Villa goalkeeper Dibu Martinez serves a one-game ban, while all Nicolas Gonzalez, Marcos Acuna, and Paulo Dybala have been ruled out with injuries. Olympique Lyon left-back Nicolas Tagliafico is back to contention. You should know that Argentina are eyeing their fifth consecutive win over Venezuela in all competitions.
How the bookies view it: The hosts are the underdogs
The bookies believe that Venezuela have it all to do on Thursday night with Argentina being priced as the favourites despite being the away team. A win for Venezuela has been priced at 5/1 while a victory for Argentina has been priced at 1/2 by Jililuck. The draw, which would be a welcome result for the hosts, has been priced at 11/4.
Highlighted Player (Lionel Messi):
Lionel Messi is regarded as one of the best players in the history of football. He was born on 24 June, 1987 in Rosario and he began his football career at Newell’s Old Boys. At age 10 he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency, but having realized his potential at a young age, Barcelona decided to pay for his treatment.
Messi joined Barca in 2001 and he has been playing for the Camp Nou outfit ever since. The Argentine magician has won eight La Liga trophies with Barca and he helped the Catalan giants lift no less than four Champions League titles (2005/2006, 2008/2009, 2010/2011, 2014/2015).
In the 2011/2012 La Liga campaign Messi scored 50 goals for Barca, while netting 14 goals in the 2011/2012 Champions League campaign. The five-time Golden Ball award winner has established himself as Barcelona’s all-time top scorer, but he has yet to win a trophy with Argentina national team at major tournaments. Leo Messi, though, has won Olympic Gold Medal (2008) and FIFA World Youth Championship (2005), with la Albiceleste.
Recent head-to-head: Advantage Argentina
Argentina have an impressive recent record against Venezuela which will fill them with confidence ahead of this one. They have won their last three matches against Venezuela and have lost just one of the last eight. The hosts’ last win over Argentina was in a friendly in 2019 while their last competitive victory over them was all the way back in 2011 by Wjpeso.
Highlighted Team (Venezuela):
The Venezuela national team is the member of South American CONMEBOL confederation competing at the international stage since 1938, at the same time fighting for glory and popularity in the country where baseball diverts all of the attention from the sport. With increased popularity of the FIFA World Cup the country found enough motivation and incentive to increase player development and fan support in order to strengthen the cult of the national football team.
However, South American minnows Venezuela have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and as of 2014 they remain the only CONMEBOL member not to achieve this feat. La Vinotinto have however appeared in 15 Copa America tournament with their first entry coming in 1967. Their best result was the fourth-place finish in 2011 and under the new leadership of Rafael Dudamet, Venezuela are looking for an upset at Copa America Centenario.
The most prominent player of the Venezuela national team is New York Cosmos midfielder Juan Arango who is the team’s top scorer and the player with most caps.
Venezuela vs Argentina Prediction
World and South American champions Argentina will face a tough test on Thursday evening as they visit Estadio Municipal de Maturin to take on Venezuela in the ninth round of the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifications.
Argentina still top the competition despite a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Colombia in the previous round.
It was by far the weakest display from Los Gauchos in a while. They managed to register no more than a single shot on target in the 90 minutes of action on the occasion.
Nevertheless, Lionel Scaloni will now welcome his main star Lionel Messi back to the team. Messi has been on an incredible run of form since his return from injury.
The former Barcelona and PSG superstar has been regularly scoring and assisting for Inter Miami in the MLS of late.
Venezuela are winless in four straight qualifiers but they are still inside the top six in the standings.
Venezuela are very difficult to beat on the home soil due to the altitude. They are undefeated in four World Cup qualifiers in this term, managing two wins and draws apiece in the process.
Nonetheless, La Vinotinto are now up against the strongest team on the continent. Argentina have historically dominated this matchup with 16 wins in the previous 20 meetings with Venezuela.
Also, Los Gauchos will go into this on the back of three subsequent victories in this matchup, netting eight goals in the process.
We will back Argentina to win as the main pick at the 1.55 odds while the Over 2.5 goals FT bet also offers value at the attractive 2.10 odds.
We’ve seen three or more goals in three of the previous four H2H matches between these counterparts.
Players to watch: The return of the GOAT
Lionel Messi was missing from action during the last international break but he returns to the Argentina squad for the upcoming matches against Venezuela and Bolivia and will be itching to pull on the famous Blue and White stripes once again.
At this stage of his career, playing for his country is now seemingly Messi’s priority. At his peak, he put more emphasis on performing for Barcelona and picking up trophies at club level but his transition into being an international specialist in recent years has been heartwarming to see.
The slow pace of MLS football has allowed him to stay as fresh as possible for Argentina and as long as he is open to selection, Lionel Scaloni is going to select and start him. Messi has scored five goals and provided six assists in eleven appearances against Venezuela in his career so logic tells us he will secure a goal contribution on Thursday.
Predicted line-ups
Venezuela have some concerns at the back with Teo Quintero and Jhon Chancellor both ruled out due to injuries. Argentina are set to be without three players after Paulo Dybala, Nicolas Gonzalez and Alejandro Garnacho all pulled out of the squad after initially being selected.
Venezuela: Romo – Aramburu, Osorio, Ferraresi, Navarro – Bello, Martinez, Casseres, Segovia, Soteldo – Rondon
Argentina: Rulli – Molina, Otamendi, Romero, Tagliafico – Mac Allister, De Paul, Fernandez – Alvarez, Martinez, Messi
