World Cup 2018: 4 Barcelona players who can dominate the World Cup

#1 Leo Messi (Argentina)

Is 2010 the year of La Pulga?

Messi again goes head-to-head with his biggest critics, his countrymen. Highly compared with El Diego, Messi is yet to deliver major silverware for the national side.

Having lost in three consecutive finals, the forward decided to retire from international football after the 2016 Copa America final in America but requests from the fans and his national side's situation in the qualification campaign forced La Pulga to come out of retirement and help throttle La Albiceleste to the grand stage.

Most pundits and fans deem Messi to be Argentina's only hope in Russia. Even the big man himself stated that this time his side won't be traveling to the World Cup as favourites.

But when a man of Messi's stature is determined to do something at a competition, knowing that it would be his last attempt, we sure are in for some entertainment.

A dejected Leo Messi walks past the World Cup trophy after losing to Germany in the 2014 final

Leo arguably single-handedly drove his side to three consecutive finals but was unfortunate to lose all of them. His contributions in Brazil were mesmerising and the Messiah must do a repeat of some of his heroics in Russia to throttle his team past the group stages and into the uncertainties of the knockouts.

“There’s a big challenge coming up for me personally as well as the group. For the country in general, their dream is the same as ours. We are not the best in the world, let’s be realistic, and with that humility, we have to go look for that dream.” - Leo Messi

Messi celebrates after scoring against Ecuador.

Messi scored seven goals for Argentina in the World Cup qualifiers, three of which came in the last match against Ecuador which confirmed Argentina's place in the finals under tough circumstances.

Messi's inclusion in Sampaoli's plan is a mere formality, as the pint-sized Argentine is unarguably the nation's trump card at the World Cup.

Can Messi pull off a miracle and lift the trophy in Moscow on the 15th of July? Only time, and Leo can tell.