Argentina vs Bosnia and Herzegovina Prediction - Will Argentina Manage To Pull Ranks Against Bosnia?

Next Sunday, Argentina will measure forces with Bosnia and Herzegovina at the mythical Estádio Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro on what will be the World Cup’s Group F opening match.

Argentina were going through a very positive moment before the start of the World Cup tournament. La Albiceleste won their last two recent preparation matches, first against Trinidad and Tobago and three days later against Slovenia. The match against the Eastern European side marked the reencounter of Lionel Messi with goals at the National Team and proved to be a good test against a team with the same football background as Bosnia.

Alejandro Sabella’s boys finished at the top of their CONMEBOL qualification group and they are certainly looking to extend their positive moment during the World Cup. Sabella has implemented a different tactical approach in the team since he took control in 2011. He opted for an hybrid 4-3-3 system with Messi lurking behind the front duo, usually composed of Higuain and Agüero. Argentina are an attacking prone team and that type of game mentality sometimes exposes their defence line too much. For that matter, Sabella was forced to impose some “strictness” into his tactical approach and it is not unusual to watch Argentina play on a more conservative 5-3-2 system, especially when playing way from home against attacking driven opponents.

For the match against Bosnia, Sabella will quite probably not have any last minute headaches when it comes to injuries, since there are not any players at the medical department by now.

As for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the match against Argentina will mark their debut on a World Cup tournament as an independent nation. Competent heirs to the high quality Yugoslavian football, Bosnia are currently enjoying a very good moment with four wins on their last five matches. After being surprisingly defeated by Egypt back in March, the team embarked on a four match consecutive winning streak, defeating two World Cup contenders, Ivory Coast and Mexico along the way. The Balkanic team has a fantastic set of players especially on the midfield and forward lines, such as Pjanic, Salihovic, Misimovic, Medunjanin, Dzeko, and Ibisevic.

Bosnia have already met Argentina last year on a friendly match that took place at the United States and La Albiceleste won 2-0. The South American side was stronger back then, although now things might be different as the Bosnian side will surely want to cause them an unexpected setback.

Argentina are favourites for the match because of their World Cup’s experience and of the quality of their players; nevertheless, the Bosnians might have a word to say on next Sunday’s clash.

Argentina

Stats: W-3 L-0 D-2

Recent Form - WWDWD

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Stats: W-4 L-1 D-0

Recent Form - WWWWL

Possible Line-ups

Argentina (4-3-3) - Romero - Zabaleta - Rojo - Garay - Biglia - Gago - Mascherano - Di Maria - Messi - Agüero - Higuain

Bosnia and Herzegovina (4-1-3-2) - Begovic - Mujdza - Bicakcic - Spahic - Kolasinac - Salihovic - Pjanic - Ljulic - Misimovic - Dzeko - Ibisevic

Prediction: Argentina 1 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0