In case there were any doubts, some guy named Lionel Messi is starting for Argentina.
For Saudi Arabia, keep an eye on the winger Salem al-Dawsari, nicknamed “The Tornado,” and Salman Al-Faraj, its captain midfielder.
There were Argentine banners being hung from rafters and tied around columns and fastened to walls. There were Argentine flags, six feet high, fluttering and flourishing above Doha’s streets. The vast majority of them bore the same instantly recognizable face: not Lionel Messi, but Diego Maradona.
It was the same with the songs that echoed around the city from lunchtime onward, as gaggles of Argentine fans encountered one another: songs about Diego, watching from the sky; songs about Diego, passing his mantle on to Messi; songs about Diego and how much he is missed.