It has been a turbulent few years for the Argentina national team since their second-place finish at the 2014 World Cup. They have been through three managers after Alejandro Sabella’s departure, with Gerard Martino and Edgardo Bauza taking the reins before Jorge Sampaoli’s appointment in May 2017.
Some of this has been down to problems at the Argentine Football Association, where FIFA and CONMEBOL took over the running of the organisation in 2016 in the wake of a number of scandals on and off the field. Among other incidents, star player Lionel Messi briefly retired from international football after Argentina lost to Chile in the Copa America.
All of this occurred in the middle of a fractious qualification campaign for the 2018 World Cup. Argentina almost missed out on the trip to Russia, finishing third in the CONMEBOL group and just two points ahead of Chile who missed out on goal difference.
They go into this World Cup without a clear formation and on the back of a 6-1 defeat to Spain. Once again, it does seem like they will have to depend on the genius of Lionel Messi to bail them out.