Argentina, the World Cup defending champion, is looking to achieve something only done twice in the history of the men\u2019s World Cup. Something that\u2019s almost impossible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To win it back-to-back. Two other great footballing countries \u2013 Italy and Brazil \u2013 have previously achieved that feat. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, I\u2019ll get to Lionel Messi in a moment, but after seeing manager Lionel Scaloni\u2019s 26-man roster for this summer’s tournament, I do wonder if this brotherhood and its steel-minded tenacity that we have seen so much in competition is good enough to repeat the glory of what happened four years ago.<\/p>\n
Time will tell. Here are my takeaways:<\/p>\n
Lionel Messi and Argentina are chasing a second straight World Cup title. (Photo by Gustavo Pagano\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n The Italians under the legendary manager Vittorio Pozzo were the first to do it in 1934 and 1938. They probably could have kept going had it not been for the tragic introduction of the Second World War, which postponed the tournament until 1950. Eight years later, a young 17-year-old Brazilian phenomenon by the name of Pel\u00e9 led his nation\u2019s first World Cup title. In 1962 in Chile, despite Pel\u00e9’s injury in the group stage, Brazil won it again thanks to a wonderful squad that included Garrincha and Amarildo.\u00a0<\/p>\n France, who won in Russia in 2018, got dramatically close to joining that esteemed group in 2022. But Emiliano “Dibu” Mart\u00ednez had something to say about it thanks to his incredible save that denied Randal Kolo Muani’s attempt in the 123rd minute\u2026and this now brings me back to Argentina. \u00a0<\/p>\n And destiny.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Lionel Scaloni’s squad is as cohesive as ever. (Photo by Luis ROBAYO \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Messi will enter his sixth World Cup, and alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, will make history as the first player in the men\u2019s game to reach this milestone.<\/p>\n The problem is that with longevity comes the absence of security as Messi is currently dealing with muscle fatigue in his hamstring after he left the pitch last week, holding his left thigh, during Inter Miami’s match against the Philadelphia Union.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scaloni now waits the waiting game with Messi and time, my friends, is our most valuable and fragile gift. It\u2019s just fatigue and things could have been way worse but in a strenuous tournament in the U.S. with a demanding schedule and unforgiving climate, this is the one World Cup where Argentina\u2019s physical training team have to do the very best to make sure he\u2019s well-prepared.\u00a0<\/p>\n Messi is not like any other player so his role in this remains key towards Argentina\u2019s plans as they will wait until the last second to have him ready. But as he turns 39 during the World Cup, one thing is for sure\u2014which is the sad reality for all of us\u2014-Messi\u2019s last dance on the biggest stage is fast approaching and this Argentina squad has to find a way to perhaps contemplate the concept of relying less on him. And win it all. Again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Remember this name. Jos\u00e9 “Flaco” L\u00f3pez will be a rising talent. (Photo by Leonardo Fernandez\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a coincidence that Diego Simeone\u2019s impact is ever so present with this squad. Scaloni wants metal-minded resilience in this tournament and Atl\u00e9tico Madrid’s six players in the squad \u2014 more representatives than any club \u2014 will undoubtedly show that. And I am not even talking about the players who previously played under Simeone at the Spanish powerhouse.<\/p>\n But of all of them, for me, this is the World Cup for Juli\u00e1n Alvarez as I think his role will be the most impactful, especially as Messi\u2019s role often alters deeper in midfield (as we saw at Copa Am\u00e9rica in 2024). Wanted by Barcelona (and the feeling is reportedly mutual), this is a major summer for\u00a0La Ara\u00f1a<\/i>, who I think has a chance of challenging for top scorer in the tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n Argentina\u2019s first mission is to win its group (Algeria, Austria, Jordan) which on paper is more than doable. After that? The challenges surely come so it will be absolutely imperative for this team to stay healthy, continue on this path of compactness with or without Messi, and believe wholeheartedly that it can do it again. Will they? Only time will tell.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Argentina, the World Cup defending champion, is looking to achieve something only done twice in the history of the men\u2019s World Cup. Something that\u2019s almost impossible.\u00a0 To win it back-to-back. Two other great footballing countries \u2013 Italy and Brazil \u2013 have previously achieved that feat. \u00a0 Yes, I\u2019ll get to Lionel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}