Leo Messi takes Argentina to 6th FIFA Football World Cup Final

Captain Lionel Messi has led from the front in Argentina’s quest for 3rd World Cup in its history (Photo: Twitter)

Football is said to have been introduced to Argentina in the second half of the 19th century by the British immigrants to Buenos Aires. The first Argentine League was played in 1891, making it the fifth-oldest recognised league of a FIFA member.

• Argentina is the most successful team in the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions, having won it twice (1993 and 2022).
• Argentina has won the World Cup twice so far. First in 1978 at Buenos Aires when hosts Argentina defeat the Netherlands 3-1. The second title came in 1986 when Argentina defeated West Germany 3-2 to win the World Cup.

World Cup (1978)

• 1978 FIFA World Cup Final was played between the host nation Argentina and the Netherlands and the Cup was won by Argentina, who defeated the Netherlands 3–1 in the final, after extra time.
• Mario Kempes was the winner of Golden Boot as the best player of the tournament, scoring 6 goals.

World Cup (1986)

• 1986 FIFA World Cup was held in Mexico. The final match was held at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 29, 1986 and had an attendance of 114,600. In the final, Argentina defeated West Germany by 3-2,
• Maradona was the winner of Golden Ball winner as the best player of the tournament.
• In the same tournament, Gary Lineker became the first Englishman to win the World Cup Golden Boot, being the top goal scorer in the tournament, with 6 goals.

Final

• After defeating Croatia in the semifinal of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Argentina will play on DEcember 18 the 6th World Cup Final in its history.
• The last time, Argentina reached the World Cup Final was in 2014. Then, they lost 1-0 to Germany in extra time as Mario Götze scored the winner in the 113th minute.

Semi-Final

• Argentina had played their 6th World Cup semi-final against Croatia and his.
• Last time Argentina played the semi-final in 2014, There they beat the Netherlands in the penalty shoot by 4-2, after neither of the teams could score in the allotted time.

Quarter-finals

• In including 2022, so far Argentina had played the 12 quarter-finals of the football World Cup.
• Last time Argentina played Quarter-finals with Belgium where they beat Belgium 1-0, Gonzalo Higiaun was the one who did a single goal in the entire match.

Argentina’s Biggest win in World Cup

• Argentina hosted its first World Cup in 1978, After losing the 1930 world cup final from Uruguay by 4-2, it is the second time Argentina reached the World Cup final that year, where it beat the Netherlands by a scoreline of 3-1 to lift its first title and it is considered one of the biggest win for Argentina in World Cup.

Biggest Loss

• Czechoslovakia 6–1 Argentina in 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Highest goal scorer in the World cup.

• Messi becomes the highest goal scorer for Argentina in World Cup history.

God Of Football.

• Diego Armando Maradona from Argentine is also known as the god of Football.

Has Messi ever won the World Cup?

• Even though Leo Messi is widely considered as one of the greatest players in football history, Argentina has never won any World Cup with Messi in the team.
•  in the presence of Messi till now, after 2004 it is going to be his second final for Argentina in FIFA World Cup.

How many times has Messi played World Cup?

• Messi has played FIFA World Cup five times and he has led Argentina to at least the quarterfinals in four of those instances.

Guinness World Record

• Most appearances for a foreigner and most goals scored (474) in Spanish premiere league, La Liga. Lionel Messi also holds the record for the most appearances in La Liga by a foreign player.

Messi has scored the most goals for Argentina at FIFA World Cups.

• When he scored against Croatia in the semi-final in Doha, Messi became the most prolific Argentinian goal-scorer. With 11 goals to his name, Messi raced beyond Gabriel Batistuta’s 10 goals.
• In the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup, Messi is the highest scorer, with 6 goals.
• Messi has confirmed that Sunday’s final match at FIFA World Cup will be his last appearance for Argentina as he will retire from international football after that.

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