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2022 World Cup Team Preview: Argentina
La Albiceleste Hasn’t Won Title Since 1986
The Last Dance
This is it. The 2022 World Cup will be the last chance for Lionel Messi to win the only major trophy he’s missing. The one that Argentina won for the last time led by an inspired Diego Armando Maradona.
The good news for La Pulga, who remains La Albiceleste’s top player, is that the rest of the cast is pretty good. Lautaro Martinez, Angel Di Maria, Julian Alvarez, Leandro Paredes and Lisandro Martinez, to name a few. In other words, no excuses for one of the soccer betting favorites to dethrone France. That’s right, the South Americans are offering a +800 price to win the gold in Qatar.
Let’s check out the latest World Cup odds & lines. We’ve got plenty of strategies for you to consider before selecting your picks from our odds to win the World Cup list.
How Did They Get to Qatar 2022?
Argentina was one of two CONMEBOL teams that didn’t lose a single game on the road to the 2022 World Cup. Yes, the other is Brazil. Anyway, La Albiceleste finished second thanks to an 11-6-0 record, 27 goals for and only eight against. Argentina won 77 percent of its home matches, and three of the draws were in Buenos Aires.
La Albiceleste didn’t have to wait until the end to seal their ticket. They did it on Nov. 16, 2021, thanks to a goalless draw against Brazil. The remaining four games served for the coaching staff to start testing new players.
Individually, Messi met expectations after finishing as the team’s top scorer with seven goals. He was one of three players during the qualifiers to score a hat trick. Martinez also scored seven goals. Overall, only Marcelo Martins, Neymar and Luis Suarez scored more goals than them.
Regarding assists, Martinez led the team with four, followed by Paredes and Rodrigo de Paul with three. Again, we’re talking about a team with talent to spare.
Head Coach & Top Players
I’m gonna be honest, I’m not sure Lionel Scaloni is the right choice to coach Argentina in Messi’s last big tournament, but that’s not going to change anything, right? After all, he led them into finishing the qualifiers undefeated.
As a player, Scaloni played in the 2006 WC, in which Argentina was eliminated in the quarterfinals. He also won La Liga and the Copa del Rey with Deportivo La Coruna. He also played in the English Premier League with West Ham United.
As a coach, he began his career at Sevilla as part of Jorge Sampaoli’s staff. He followed Sampaoli to La Albiceleste as his assistant, but things didn’t work out. For Sampaoli, that is, because things worked great for Scaloni. He was appointed interim-coach but ended up staying for good. Since he took over, Argentina is 31-12-4 and won the Copa America and the Finalissima.
Regarding the players, well, there’s not much to say. Messi is the leader of the pack while Alvarez is expected to be the breath of fresh air that all teams need at some point. There’s also Paulo Dybala, who’s returning to his best level thanks to Jose Mourinho and AS Roma.
Defensively, Lisandro Martinez has been quite the sensation at Manchester United. He and Cristian Romero, who plays for Tottenham, have the potential to become the best pair of center-backs in the world.
Argentina in the 2022 World Cup
Argentina is the clear betting online favorite to win Group C, in which they’ll face Poland, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. The South Americans are offering a -250 price to win it. They’re followed by Robert Lewandowski and Co. at +450.
La Albiceleste will debut against Saudi Arabia. Later, they’ll face Mexico and Poland. Their expectations are to be qualified when facing the Europeans.
Individually, as expected, Messi is among the favorites to win the Golden Boot. He’s offering a +1400 price in the sportsbook. Martinez is +3300 while Alvarez is +5000. Last but not least, Di Maria at +10000. Plenty of options.
History of Argentina & the World Cup
This will be Argentina’s 18th World Cup. They haven’t missed one since 1970. As mentioned before, they won the title for the last time in 1986, defeating Germany 3-2 in the Grand Finale. Prior to that, they also won it in 1978, defeating Netherlands 3-1 in the championship game.
In 2014, La Albiceleste reached the final, but Germany took revenge with a 1-0 victory.
Gabriel Batistuta is the team’s top scorer in soccer’s grandest stage with 10 goals. Messi has six, so it doesn’t seem far-fetched for him to set a national record.
