The situation of the Argentine team making it difficult for themselves did not appear until the 2020 World Cup. Remember in the previous campaign, they lost 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in the opening match despite taking the lead. In the quarter-finals, when leading the Netherlands 2-0, Albiceleste also let the opponent equalize 2-2 and then won on penalties.
In the 2022 World Cup final, Argentina took the lead against France with a score of 2-0. After that, they were equalized 2-2, took a 3-2 lead and then were equalized 3-3. Luck once again belonged to Messi and his teammates when they defeated their opponent on penalties to win the championship for the 3rd time in history.
At this World Cup, the knockout victories against Cape Verde and Egypt have made Argentine fans heartbroken. With the match in the round of 32, the newcomer Cape Verde almost brought Argentina to a penalty shootout. Meanwhile, in the round of 16 match, Egypt even almost won when leading 2-0 until the 78th minute.
One of the reasons why Argentina did not exert themselves from the beginning is the fitness issue. The intensity of the 2026 World Cup is too fierce and Albiceleste is not necessarily the team with the most fighting stars.
When you need to rest the most is when you don't have any time" - coach Lionel Scaloni shared after the victory over Egypt. Argentina entered this match with less than 3 days of rest since the hard-fought Cape Verde victory. That is also the squad they started in the 3-0 victory over Jordan in the group stage.
The reason why Argentina's playing style did not overwhelm throughout the match like France was also because their fitness was not abundant. Lionel Messi shared that the team's formation gap is sometimes too far apart. When the opponent has the ball and forces Argentina to run, this is a disadvantage of the defending champion.
Argentina is very easily content with having to retreat deeply to defend when the opponent presses high. They also do not have good counter-pressing power and only wait for breakthrough situations like star moments. Argentina is not bad at protecting the goal but has to spend a lot of time doing this. Therefore, Scaloni's team is always as if struggling to defend.
The most fearsome explosive of the reigning champion is superstar Lionel Messi. However, at the age of 39, he is not strong enough to participate in quick counter-attack situations. M10 really needs the support of his teammates, especially in the central area to find moments. That is also why in this year's tournament, Argentina no longer has speedy wing-up stars like Angel Di Maria. They focus on playing in the center more to help Messi stick to the penalty area as closely as possible.
Argentina, although very hard, at least when in danger, the resistance of the 2022 champion is very admirable. Not only strikers, defensive stars like Lisandro Martinez or Cristian Romero always know how to shine to save. The uniformity in terms of stars. having a scoring output has helped Argentina remain steadfast until now.
