FIFA World Cup 2018 team analysis: Sampaoli needs to find winning combination around Messi

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In all likelihood this edition of the FIFA World Cup will be Argentina captain Lionel Messis last chance to lay hands on the most prestigious trophy in the World — In all likelihood this edition of the FIFA World Cup will be Argentina captain Lionel Messi's last chance to lay hands on the most prestigious trophy in the World

Groups and Points Table | World Cup Fixtures | All final squads for Russia sorted by groups" title="World Cup 2018 Full Schedule: Dates, Venue, IST Time | Groups and Points Table | World Cup Fixtures | All final squads for Russia sorted by groups" />World Cup 2018 Full Schedule: Dates, Venue, IST Time | Groups and Points Table | World Cup Fixtures | All final squads for Russia sorted by groups

[SELECCIÓN MAYOR] @Argentina se entrenó hoy bajo la lluvia con los ojos de @SampaoliOficial puestos en los trabajos tácticos. pic.twitter.com/ogmpZ54q9D
— Selección Argentina (@Argentina) June 7, 2018

In this edition of the FIFA World Cup, 32 countries have made the cut to the final stages and all of them have been pooled into eight groups of four each. The top two from each group qualify for the knockouts (Round of 16) until one winner emerges at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on July 15.

Iceland" title="Group D analysis | Team-by-team analysis: Iceland" />Group D analysis | Team-by-team analysis: Iceland

Country: Argentina

Placed in Group D also featuring Croatia, Nigeria and Iceland

Fixtures: Argentina vs Iceland at 6:30pm IST on June 16 (Moscow)

Argentina vs Croatia at 11:30pm on June 21 (Nizhny Novgorod)

Argentina vs Nigeria at 11:30pm on June 26 (Saint Petersburg)

FIFA ranking: 4

Previous World Cup: Runners-up

Last appearance: 2014 (Lost to Germany in the final)

Best finish: Champions in 1978, 1986

Star players: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus), Paulo Dybala (Juventus)

Coach: Jorge Sampaoli

The Messi Magic. That's the USP of the Argentina team. Do we need anything more? Yes. Look past the charismatic playmaker, there are quite a few kinks in the current Argentina Squad. But then again Lionel Messi single-handedly guided the South American nation into the World Cup. His hat-trick against Ecuador secured Argentina's ticket to Russia. If not for that, the team would not have been a part of the quadrennial event this year.

They are nowhere close to being the best team from the country, but there definitely is something about the team that will keep their competitors on alert. Despite a dismal qualifying campaign, last-edition's runners-up have been pegged as one of the strong contendors of this year's gala event in Russia.

Last chance for Messi & Co.

So what makes them stand out? Well, they do have the world's best player in their squad. And if you put that aside, Argentina have a few more quality players, including Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain. Moreover, if you look past the poor qualifying campaign the team has had a few agonisingly close finishes. They went down to Germany in the final of the last World Cup, losing 1-0 in extra time. Following that, they finished runners-up at successive Copa America tournaments, losing both matches to Chile on penalties in 2015 as well as 2016.

Argentina = squad goals 😍🇦🇷

(📷 @PauDybala_JR) pic.twitter.com/02IkU5gnEu
— Dugout (@Dugout) June 1, 2018

For the Jorge Sampaoli-coached side it has always been a story of so-close-yet-so-far. Will it change this time? Captain Messi certainly hopes so. Earlier Messi had said that this band of Argentina players have a score to settle following the few agonising misses and also after this World Cup an important generation of players will move on and this will be their last chance to lay hands on the most prestigious silverware. What more motivation can one need? The country last lifted the trophy in 1986 when Diego Maradona was named player of the tournament. And the Messi-led side would be more than desperate to lift the trophy for Argentina's third World Cup win, in their 17th appearance.

Sampaoli's tactical problems

But all said and done, Sampaoli has to still figure out his best playing XI. Because needless to say, without Messi, Argentina are merely average. And it has always been a challenge to find a formation to work around Messi. With the World Cup around the corner Sampaoli has to get it right. Off late, the coach has been sticking to the 4-4-2 formation but he has tried to work around other formations as well. And nothing has really made Argentina look dangerous. With their defence a big concern, Sampaoli will have a lot on his plate to worry about.

Moreover, the team has been placed in a tricky Group. Group D consists of Croatia, Nigeria and Iceland. Though ideally Argentina should top the group, the other teams cannot be taken lightly. In the group stages the clash against Croatia looks to be the mouthwatering tie of the group. But Messi and his men should not take burly Nigeria or giant-killers Iceland likely. Though the better team, it would be foolish to underestimate any of their opponents in this group.

Icardi cut from Argentina's 23-man World Cup squad pic.twitter.com/X1y8WQyqPx
— Futball Select (@futballselect) June 6, 2018

Prediction: With the world's best player in their team, Argentina looks set to top the group and comfortably enter the knockouts. But whether they will manage to go the distance will remain a mystery, at least till Sampaoli finds the magical combination.

Team-by-team analysis