Argentina
Argentina are the reigning FIFA World Cup champions, having won their third title in Qatar 2022, with Lionel Messi lifting the trophy in his final tournament appearance.
The Albiceleste had waited 36 years after 1986, when Diego Maradona single-handedly won a World Cup in Mexico with performances that remain the standard by which every player is measured. His tournament included the Hand of God and the Goal of the Century against England in the quarter-final, two goals six minutes apart that between them contained the entire spectrum of football’s capacity for genius and dishonesty. The fact that both are remembered equally tells you something about how Argentina experienced that tournament: all of it, the divine and the profane, was acceptable in the cause of winning.
The 2022 title in Qatar completed the only story arc in football that rivalled Maradona’s own. Lionel Messi, who had reached the final in 2014 only for Mario Götze’s extra-time goal to deny him, finally held the trophy at 35. His 2022 performance across seven matches, including two goals in the final against France before Gonzalo Montiel’s penalty sealed it in the shootout, was the greatest individual World Cup campaign since Maradona’s own.
Argentina’s playing identity is organised chaos. Manager Lionel Scaloni deploys a 4-4-2 diamond or a 4-3-3 that morphs into a back five in defence, with the team built around protecting Messi’s space ahead of a compact midfield. Rodrigo De Paul is the engine: a box-to-box midfielder who covers ground relentlessly and drives transitions. Julian Alvarez provides the pressing intensity up front. Enzo Fernandez, the Chelsea midfielder, is the creative axis in the deeper midfield role.
The squad around Messi has been renewed carefully. Lautaro Martinez, Inter Milan’s prolific centre-forward, leads the line. Alexis Mac Allister brings precise technique from Liverpool. Argentina are difficult to break down and lethal on the counter.
Buenos Aires sits in the ART timezone (UTC-3). For fans in Argentina, a 15:00 US East Coast kickoff arrives at 16:00 or 17:00 local time, a reasonable evening fixture. The country effectively stops when Argentina play at a World Cup. Traffic empties, businesses close, and the noise from apartment buildings at each goal can be heard from blocks away.