All you need to know about Argentina ahead of the World Cup

Argentina World Cup 2018 profile: Ones to watch, best bets and more

22:12 · FRI June 15, 2018

The South American nation are 9/1 to lift the trophy in Russia - and there's more to them than just Lionel Messi...

Argentina Factfile

FIFA world ranking: 5
Sky Bet outright winner odds: 9/1
Best bet: Argentina and Croatia both to finish top two in Group D at 10/11
World Cup appearances: 16
Best World Cup finish: Winners (1978 & 1986)
Nickname: La Albiceleste

Coach - Jorge Sampaoli: With Jorge Sampaoli (pictured, below) in charge, they have a manager with international experience after he led Chile at the 2014 World Cup before guiding them to the Copa America title in 2015.

The 58-year-old Argentine will be hoping to get the best out of his squad, which has some incredibly talented attackers among its ranks.

Legend - Diego Maradona: A close one, but we are writing about the other guy for the next section and Maradona definitely deserves his inclusion. Some believe he edges Lionel Messi as an Argentinian great as he has a World Cup triumph to his name.

He was also hugely decorated at club level and is an all-time great with the likes of Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli and Sevilla on his CV as a player. He scored 34 goals in 90 appearances for his country, 25 in 26 for Barca and 114 in 253 for Italian giants Napoli.

Star Man - Lionel Messi: Messi may seem like the easy option, but he is genuinely the one you want to watch with interest.

He turns 31 during the tournament and Argentina are running out of time to win the competition with one of the game’s all-time greats. A World Cup winners’ medal is the noticeable absentee from his incredible trophy haul, with some suggesting a lack of success on the international stage could tarnish his legacy.

Having played in the first team at Barcelona for 14 years, Messi’s game is managed more consciously now, but he still continues to amaze and goes into this summer’s tournament on the back of another incredible goalscoring season for his club.

Despite criticism that his club performances have not been matched on the international stage, Argentina struggle without Messi and he is still their all-time top scorer with 61 goals in 123 appearances.

He should captain the White and Sky Blues in Russia, hoping for success after coming so close in 2014.

Did you know? Argentina have appeared in the most penalty shootouts in World Cup history - but their not afraid of them as they've won four out of five.

Fun Fact: They have been drawn in the group stage with Nigeria for a record fifth time in just six World Cup finals.

Qualifying: Finished third in the South American standings, with a Lionel Messi hat-trick against Ecuador on the final matchday lifting Argentina from the brink of a shock failure.

Group D fixtures: Iceland (2pm, June 16, Moscow), Croatia (7pm, June 21, Nizhny Novgorod), Nigeria (7pm, June 26, St Petersburg)

Argentina squad

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (Manchester United), Willy Caballero (Chelsea), Franco Armani (River Plate).

Defenders: Gabriel Mercado (Sevilla), Federico Fazio (Roma), Nicolas Otamendi (Manchester City), Marcos Rojo (Manchester United), Nicolas Taglafico (Ajax), Javier Mascherano (Hebei Fortune), Marcos Acuna (Sporting Lisbon), Cristian Ansaldi (Torino).

Midfielders: Ever Banega (Sevilla), Lucas Biglia (AC Milan), Angel Di Maria, Giovani Lo Celso (both Paris St-Germain), Manuel Lanzini (West Ham), Cristian Pavon (Boca Juniors), Maximiliano Meza (Independiente), Eduardo Salvio (Benfica).

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala (both Juventus), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City).

Argentina Profile

La Albiceleste know what it’s about when it comes to the FIFA World Cup.

With 16 finals appearances to their name, only Brazil (20), Germany and Italy (both 18) have played more.

Jorge Sampaoli: Argentina's head coach watches on

The two-time winners reached the final in 2014, losing in extra-time to Germany, and will be hoping to go one further.

Who to watch out for

Messi aside, they have Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria.

Giovani Lo Celso could be a young talent to look out for. The 22-year-old midfielder scored the winner for PSG in their Coupe de France final win in May and he has had an incredible rise to the first team this term.

How did they qualify?

Qualifying was certainly not short of drama for the South American nation.

You cannot imagine the 2018 World Cup without Lionel Messi, but that was very nearly the case. As well as Argentina nearly missing out on qualification, Messi retired from international football before soon performing a U-turn.

In Gerardo Martino, Edgardo Bauza and Sampaoli, they had three different managers during qualifying and nearly missed out on the World Cup finals for the first time since 1970.

After three successive draws, it went down to their final game with Ecuador. After conceding in the opening minute, a Messi hat-trick booked their place in Russia.

Any interesting facts about Argentina?

Argentina will not mind being drawn against Nigeria again, having won the last four competitive meetings with the Super Eagles – although they met in a friendly in November, with Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi scoring twice as Nigeria emerged 4-2 winners.

Their population is just over 44.6m, 32nd-largest in the world - whereas by area they are the eighth-largest country.

The average person in Argentina consumed 120.2lb of beef in 2016 - only the Uruguayans ate more (124.2lb). The UK figure is 40lb.

Any famous football moments?

Both of their World Cup wins understandably make it, but the standout has got to be Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ moment in 1986, as the forward’s handball goal stood in the quarter-final, they went on to seal a 2-1 win over England in Mexico City.

The goal was given its name after Maradona said in his post-match press conference: "A little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God."

His second goal was perhaps overshadowed by the controversial first, but it goes down as one of the best ever World Cup goals which made it 2-0 and put the game beyond the reach of England.

The 25-year-old picked the ball up in his own half, just before the halfway line, going on a mazy run, weaving in and out and beating a number of opponents before rounding Peter Shilton and coolly slotting home.