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#1 Argentina - Lionel Messi
After going 1-0 down in a must-win qualification game against Ecuador, Lionel Messi's brilliance saved Jorge Sampaoli's side from embarrassment and secured a spot in the World Cup.
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WIth 7 goals, Lionel Messi finished only behind Edinson Cavani in the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualification campaign. Argentina has some of the biggest names in world football like Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Mauro Icardi, Angel di Maria and Paulo Dybala, but none of them were able to save Argentina from going down.
All of them were poor in the qualifying campaign, leaving it to Messi to rescue them in the end.
Again in Russia, Argentina will rely a lot on their talismanic captain to deliver the goods. Messi is yet to win a major tournament with Argentina and this may very well be his last chance. Argentina has a strong squad but when it comes to making it work on the field, Messi is undoubtedly the man for Jorge Sampaoli.
