Argentina’s World Cup chances.

Argentina has always been a consistent candidate in every World Cup due to the sheer quality of their squads, and the fact that they have already won the competition twice and were the runner-ups in three occasions. So we are talking about a nation that has a lot of heritage in the competition and when your star player is arguably the best footballer of all time, Lionel Messi, you have to be in the discussion.

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The thing with Argentina, though, is that lack of organization or poor decision-making often led to poor performances in the World Cup. The last edition in Russia was a prime example of that: the players ran amok due to disagreements with manager Jorge Sampaoli, and the final outcome was a disaster. So even though Argentina always has great squads to work with, cohesion and harmony are not always there.

Having said all that, current manager Lionel Scaloni, a former football player and Argentina international, has given his country a lot of hope for this edition in Qatar due to two reasons: the success in the 2021 Copa America and the sheer harmony of this group of players.

Scaloni arrived with a very modest CV in 2018, and the vast majority of the press in his country was against him. He was constantly ridiculed and mocked by journalists due to his decisions and the players he picked, but that public perception changed when Argentina broke almost thirty years of not winning an international trophy as they defeated Brazil in the Copa America final in 2021.

This triumph proved to be very important as this group of players no longer had to live up to insane expectations and demands from their country–they proved themselves by winning the Copa America. Lionel Messi, always so criticized for not delivering with his national team, led them in great form and was the player of the tournament.

So, this is a talented and solid Argentina squad that doesn’t have the pressure of previous editions of the World Cup, and who have a lot of solidity in every area. Some players such as Lisandro Martinez, Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, Enzo Fernandez and Cristian Romero might not have a lot of press these days, but they have been performing extremely well for their clubs and the national team.

There is a lot of confidence, unity and peace of mind in this Argentina squad, and this is something that Scaloni has managed to inject into the group in great fashion. Plus, there is a big desire from the players to help Messi, now an institution in Argentinian football and the sport as a whole, to win the World Cup in what is very likely his last chance at glory.

You can never know what is going to happen in football, but there are a lot of reasons as to why Argentina could very well win the World Cup after 36 years since Diego Armando Maradona’s heroics in Mexico. Naturally, only time will tell in that regard.