Teams
Argentina are defending champions of both of the World Cup and the Copa America and will certainly be one of the sides to watch this summer. Few will forget the incredible final against France that finished 2-2 after full time and 3-3 after extra time before Argentina prevailed on penalties to give Messi the trophy he longed to win for his nation and complete his full set of team accolades. Even in qualifying, Argentina won the group with ease, a full 8 points clear of second placed Ecuador and with this tournament almost certainly likely to be Lionel Messi’s final tournament for his country, they will be keen in making it back to back World Cups to match their back to back Copa Americas. Argentina are already pre-qualified for the next World Cup, meaning that 1970 was the only tournament that they failed to qualify for.
Messi will turn 39 over the course of the tournament, and having carried his nation to the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, many had expected him to call time on this international career. But four years later, and after adding another Copa America trophy, he will be looking to make Argentina the first back to back World Cup champions since Brazil in 1962. There are few records that Messi doesnt hold for his country; he has 50 more caps than the second highest Argentinian and will exceed 200 caps this summer, and he also has 116 goals for his nation so far - including the seven he scored in the last World Cup where he picked up the Golden Ball.
