Indeed, if it's not them winning it this year, they'll go a minimum 40 years without the World Cup. You ask what will happen once Messi is out of the picture. Given Argentina is always churning out good players, they will have a competitive team for 2026 and beyond. If I leave the rivalry aside and analyze their last 4 years strictly on performance, they are somewhere now that was hard to foresee upon the final whistle of their 4-3 loss to France in 2018. They've rebuilt, and this may be their best team since either 2006 or 2014. The problem is though - and this applies to any team competing in the World Cup - the World Cup is a short and very intense and very difficult tournament to win. In Brazil, there's a phrase used within soccer: "futebol é momento." Teams peak, and players have ups and downs. The Brazil of 1999 was a machine, but with Ronaldo out and with managerial changes and instability, Brazil struggled to qualify. Yet in 2002, with everyone betting against us, Brazil won the World Cup. This was in part because Brazil was literally clicking on all cylinders in Korea/Japan; Ronaldo was 100% healthy, and Rivaldo and Ronaldinho were also at their peaks. The rest of the team worked sufficiently well too. The Germans were the 2014 World Cup champions, but they were such a mess that they fell in the first round in 2018. Would the Germany of 2017 have lost to South Korea and Mexico in the first round? I personally doubt it. Look at Italy - 2020 (although in 2021, actually) European champions. But they won't be in Qatar. Anything can go wrong in the World Cup. Brazil was solid in 2010 WCQ, but an injury to Elano hurt Brazil in South Africa. So, in conclusion.... post-Messi, they may go through a bit of a slump. But for 2026, regardless of who the manager is, they will have a base from which to work with to build a team. And it may not be entirely unrealistic to foresee Argentina not winning in 2022 (as the World Cup is unpredictable, injuries may happen, bad subs may alter the course of a match, etc...) yet winning AFTER Messi is gone. That's one of the things about this unpredictable sport. Stranger things have happened.
I agree with you completely. Of course, I did not mean to express my opinion in a pejorative way or to make fun of Argentina. I just find it hard to believe its been so long since they won the WC and if they don't want a half-century without a WC title they have to win in 2022, 26, 30, 34 or else. And since you mention 2006, that was a great Argentina team. I would say one the best assemblages of football talent ever. A tragedy that they lost to the Germans.
Well, I wouldn't go as far as to call it a tragedy. Argentina being eliminated from the World Cup is never a tragedy to me. But it's what I wrote. Things cannot be predicted; anything can happen. Injury. A very unfortunate incorrect pass at the worst possible time. An own goal. The MVP of a team being on his worst day. Poor substitutions. Every shot on goal hitting the woodwork. You mentioned 2006. Argentina was leading Germany until the 80th minute (that's when Germany tied). Argentina, if I recall, was managing its 1-0 edge without too much difficulty until two substitutions threw the momentum to the Germans. Germany went on to win on PKs, and the rest is history. This is why unpredictability is the one predictable aspect of this game. And that's why Argentina's title drought may indeed extend beyond 40 years, just as it's possible Brazil will have to wait another 24 years before its next World Cup (1970-1994 was a very painful drought for Brazilian fans). You just never know.
Oh yeah. That Argentina 06 team played very well. They were good enough to win that WC IMO. We beat them well in Confed Cup previous year ... yet they showed up hot for the WC and we ... well, you all know. Goes to show you what difference a year can make. And some bad managerial decision based on players that "had to play" based on their name.
Sweden 0x1 Serbia Switzerland 0x1 Spain Both teams rotated, Serbia a little more, I think, but Switzerland are now bottom of their group with 0 points and half of the matches played, while Serbia are second in their League B group. In AFCON qualifiers, Cameroon won away from home (at Burundi) 1x0. Seems underwhelming, but Cameroon reportedly dominated and Burundi couldn't put much together.
Serbia had a 2x0 lead at halftime but drew with Slovenia 2x2 Switzerland beat Portugal 1x0 at home, the goal happened in the first minute of the match. Switzerland now have 3 points, 1 point behind Czech Republic with 2 matches to go (last placed team gets relegated). Both of those groups are done for this window and will meet again in September.
Mitrovic scored two today against Liverpool (and earned the penalty that he scored). He scored 43 last season but because he did it in the second division he's the kind of player most Brazilian would overlook or not even be aware of in the first place.
Mitrovic with another goal today. Now vs Arsenal. He manhandled Gabriel. The guy will definitely be a concern for our defense.
Dusan Vlahovic is a monster for Juventus and he is one of the best free-kick takers in the world. It is quite clear that Brazil will have to be in top or near top form from the very beginning and that Qatar 22 will not be easy at all for Brazil.
At some point before the goal the broadcast highlighted how few touches Arsenal had allowed him near the box. They did well until the goal. Gabriel should have booted it instantly, but Saka never should have passed to him in that situation.
Ghana call-up for the friendlies: Squad for our upcoming friendlies👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿#BlackStars #BringBackTheLove pic.twitter.com/UNZVtDaZ92— 🇬🇭 Black Stars (@GhanaBlackstars) September 6, 2022
Pogba just had meniscus surgery. Out for 40-60 days putting serious risks of him being able to play in the WC. Juve said they expect him to be recovered by Jan. Pogba has always been pretty good playing for France. Not sure who replaces him if he is out. Camavinga possibly ? Kante has also been battling injury. Could possibly see a different France the most recent Euro/WC editions.
Switzerland plays Spain and Czech Republic this international break. Squad: Goalkeepers: Yvon Mvogo (Lorient), Jonas Omlin (Montpellier), Yann Sommer (Borussia Moenchengladbach) Defenders: Manuel Akanji (Manchester City), Eray Comert (Valencia), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Kevin Mbabu (Fulham), Ricardo Rodriguez (Torino), Fabian Schar (Newcastle United), Silvan Widmer (Mainz) Midfielders: Michel Aebischer (Bologna), Fabian Frei (Basel), Remo Freuler (Nottingham Forest), Noah Okafor (RB Salzburg), Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire), Renato Steffen (FC Lugano), Granit Xhaka (Arsenal), Denis Zakaria (Chelsea) Forwards: Breel Embolo (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Cedric Itten (Young Boys), Dan Ndoye (Basel), Haris Seferovic (Galatasaray), Djibril Sow (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ruben Vargas (Augsburg)
Serbia plays Sweden and Norway this international break. Squad: Goalkeepers: Marko Dmitrović (Sevilla), Vanja Milinković-Savić (Torino), Marko Ilić (Kortrijk); Defenders: Stefan Mitrović (Getafe), Strahinja Pavlović (Red Bull Salzburg), Miloš Veljković (Werder Bremen), Filip Mladenović (Legia Warsaw), Aleksa Terzić (Fiorentina), Erhan Mašović (VfL Bochum), Strahinja Eraković (Red Star Belgrade), Srđan Babić (Almería); Midfielder: Dušan Tadić (Ajax), Filip Kostić (Juventus), Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla), Nemanja Maksimović (Getafe), Nemanja Radonjić (Torino), Filip Đuričić (Sampdoria), Sergej Milinković-Savić (Lazio), Saša Lukić (Torino), Andrija Živković (PAOK), Darko Lazović (Verona), Uroš Račić (Braga), Ivan Ilić (Hellas Verona), Stefan Mitrović (Red Star Belgrade); Forwards: Aleksandar Mitrović (Fulham), Luka Jović (Fiorentina), Dušan Vlahović (Juventus)
The biggest news from any of the other potential opponents this week has to be the abuse scandal uncovered at the French Federation, including sexual abuse of minors covered up by the Federation President. Here we go ! 40 ans d’abus couverts à la FFF : https://t.co/QhbzWZ615bAgression sexuelle/harcèlement/violence sur mineurs, chantage sexuel sur arbitres hommes et joueuses, agression sexuelle/harcèlement par des dirigeants : plus de 10 cas sont répertoriés @JosimarFotball— Romain Molina (@Romain_Molina) September 16, 2022
This video offers some notes for every WC teams in this window, including Brazil, but I'm posting it here since it focuses equally on all teams. In fact, for Brazil he has a separate, more thorough video. Just skip to whichever one you're interested in hearing about, whether it's our group opponents, our friendly opponents or any other WC team.
Cameroon lost 0x2 to Uzbekistan today. The full match is available on Uzbekistan FA's youtube channel. The goals are in the 25th minute (start at 31:54 in the video) and 77th minute (go to 1hr 37mins 54s in the video). Cameroon's lineup: Onana; Castelletto, N'Koulou, Ebosse; Fai, Mandjeck (Malong), Ntcham (Jean Onana), Tolo (Yongwa); Mbeumo, Aboubakar (Nsamé), Ngamaleu (Ngadeu)
Both the Swiss and Serbia winning NL games today . Swiss beating Spain and Mitrovic with hat trick vs Sweden . Turns out our group sucks .
Brazil knows that they will not have one easy moment in Qatar. I don't think that's a bad thing, after all, the World Cup is serious business.
Serbia's line up today: Vanja Milinkovic; Srdan Babic, Stefan Mitrovic, Erhan Masovic; Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Dusan Tadic, Sasa Lukic, Filip Kostic (Ivan Ilić), Andrija Zivkovic (Darko Lazovic); Aleksandar Mitrovic (Uros Racic), Dusan Vlahovic (Luka Jovic) Both Mitrovic and Vlahovic started. Mitrovic got a hat-trick. Highlights: