FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Last chance for Argentina's Lionel Messi?

Argentina were 3-2 winners against West Germany in Mexico City that year. Some would say the tournament was most famous for Maradona's performances against England in the quarter-final and Belgium in the semi.

After a poor showing at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, manager Jorge Sampaoli was sacked, and replaced with ex-international player Lionel Scaloni. The turnaround as a result has been incredible. The new and improved team have gone unbeaten in over three years and won their first Copa America since 1993 and the 2022 Finalissima.

Scaloni was never a star for Argentina during his playing days, but L'Equipe journalist Florent Tourchut believes he has the right mentality to be a top-level manager,

"He was a player who didn't stand out. He played in the national team, but he was never a big star. He formed a good group with experienced players - Di Maria, Messi, Otamendi. I think his biggest strength is psychology, how he gets to the players, and how he knows how to talk to them. And how he prepares for the matches. He understands all of that. I think mixing the experience of players like Messi and the younger players makes the team a World Cup candidate."

Almost 40 years since that last World Cup victory, Argentina have another all-time great leading their squad in Lionel Messi. Messi has already won a gold medal at the Olympics and a Copa America. He also came close to winning the 2014 World Cup but lost to Germany in the final. Superstar Messi will be looking to go out on a high by winning what will probably be his last tournament in Qatar. So, can this be a fairytale final tournament for Messi?

La Albiceleste has drawn a relatively comfortable group on paper. They'll be coming up against Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland.