The World Cup begins its third day on Tuesday and Group C will play its first two matches. Group favorites Argentina open their 2022 World Cup campaign against Saudi Arabia at 5 a.m. ET. The match will be broadcast on FS1 live from Lusail Stadium in Al Daayen.
Argentina is a heavy favorite to win this game at DraftKings Sportsbook at odds of -700. Saudi Arabia is +1900 and a draw is +750. If the Saudis even want to try to salvage a point, they might need some help from the officials.
The referee for Tuesday’s game will be Slavko Vinčić. The Slovenian referee has been listed by FIFA since 2010, but this will be his first World Cup game. This year he has officiated four UEFA Champions League group stage matches, delivering 19 yellow cards. He delivered four plus a red card to Spurs-Marseille, seven to Inter-Barcelona, one to Rangers-Liverpool and seven to Sporting CP-E. Frankfurt. He notably refereed a Saudi Pro League game between Al-Adalah FC and Al-Ittihad Club in August. He issued three yellow cards in this game.
The total number of cards for Tuesday’s match is set at 3.5 with the lower price at -150 and the upper at +110. Vinčić’s refereeing squad for the match will consist of the following, with roles and nationalities included (h/t Refereeing World):
- Assistant Referee 1: Tomaz Klančnik (SVN)
- Assistant Referee 2: Andraz Kovacic (SVN)
- Fourth Referee: Maguette N’Diaye (SEN)
- Reserve AR: El Hadji Samba (SEN)
- VAR: Pol van Boekel (NED)
- AVAR: Bastian Dankert (GER)
- OVAR: Abdelhak Etchiali (ALG)
- SVAR: Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea (ESP)
- SAVAR: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
