It seemed, from the outside, like the most lop-sided bout in the history of boxing.

In 1990, Buster Douglas, an American heavyweight with a mixed bag of a career, was set to fight one of the greatest athletes in the history of sport, Mike Tyson.

Tyson, at that stage, was the undefeated and undisputed champion of world boxing, holding three of the sport's four major titles simultaneously. He did not know – and did not care to know – how it felt to lose.

Douglas, meanwhile, was ranked number seven in the heavyweight category, but hadn't participated in a title fight for three years. 23 days earlier, his mother had died. His partner was ill. And on the eve of the bout, he got the flu.

So uneven was the contest that bookmakers had the odds at 42-1 in Tyson's favour. The media had already written Douglas off, too: when asked by a customs official how long he expected to work in Tokyo, one AP journalist reportedly replied: "Oh, about 90 seconds."

Orlando Sentinel columnist Brian Schmitz even suggested that Don King, the fight's promoter, be charged with fraud.

"When you're trying to persuade people to believe Douglas has a chance, false advertising is encouraged, if not a time-honoured tradition — the fight racket," he wrote.

All signs, all history, all analysis, all logic pointed in one direction.

But then they stepped into the ring.

On Sunday morning, the Socceroos will face one of the Mike Tysons of this World Cup when they take the field against two-time winners, current Copa America champions, and world number three Argentina in the round of 16.

There is no other knockout game that is more mathematically mismatched than this one. Currently, 35 world ranking places separate Australia from Argentina, who have lost just one game in the entirety of 2022.

The numbers in every other statistical category heaves so heavily in the South Americans' favour there is almost no point in laying them out.

In seven meetings, the Socceroos have only defeated La Albiceleste at senior level once, back in 1988, before most of the current team were born. The mismatches go further and deeper than numbers, as well, be it in terms of popularity, participation, culture, tradition – let alone containing perhaps the greatest player the sport has ever seen.