Argentina has one goal only in Qatar: Win a World Cup and send Lionel Messi out as a champion.
Messi has said that his fifth World Cup will likely be his last, and it gets started against Group C’s biggest underdog, Saudi Arabia. Argentina enters unbeaten in 36 straight matches, which is one shy of Italy’s all-time international record. Winning the 2021 Copa América has seemingly lifted a massive weight for Messi & Co., but there’s still the grand prize of them all out there to win for complete validation.
It all starts against the 51st-ranked Saudis, who, on paper, figure to be Argentina’s easiest opponent in the group, with dates against Mexico and Poland still to come.