Lionel Messi: 5 reasons why the star is unlikely to ever win a major trophy with Argentina

Lionel Messi: 5 Reasons why the star will never win a major trophy with Argentina

Lionel Messi-Barcelona legend but trophyless with Argentina

#2 Lack of quality youngsters coming through the ranks

Angel Correa-a potential partner in creative midfield for Messi?

Anyone who has watched Argentina play in recent years will notice that Messi plays much deeper than he does at Argentina, often initiating attacks from his own half. Argentina has yet to give Messi a creative midfield partner who can shoulder the burden.

Ever Banega and Angel Correa have been inconsistent while the early promise shown by Javier Pastore has fizzled out due to frequent injuries. With Juventus' ace Paulo Dybala occupying the same position at Messi at club level, Argentina often set their team out with Messi as the lone playmaker.

All this while, their main South American rivals Brazil has managed to develop the bedrock of a world-beating side, identifying a core group of veterans like Thiago Silva, Casemiro, Alisson, Neymar, Coutinho and Firmino and mixing it with some exciting talent who have set this European season on fire like Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, Ajax's David Neres, Barcelona's Arthur and AC Milan's Lucas Paqueta. No such young talent has come through for Argentina.

Manager Tite was able to build this squad since the Brazilian federation kept their confidence in the Copa Libertadores winning gaffer despite an underwhelming showing at the 2018 World Cup. Consistency is key, as is also shown by the 2011 Copa America winning manager Oscar Tabarez who is still in charge of Uruguay, where he also has built a squad that found the right mix of youth and experience, combining the veteran superstars Diego Godin, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani with some supremely talented younglings like Juventus' Rodrigo Bentancur, Celta Vigo's Maxi Lopez, Atletico Madrid's Jose Gimenez, and AC Milan's Diego Laxalt.

It is for this reason that Brazil (3) and Uruguay (7) sit comfortably ahead of the inconsistent Albiceleste (11) in the latest FIFA Rankings. Youth will be key as teams continue building up with an eye on the final prize-title glory at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

When it comes to comparison with major European teams, the disparity in the quality of the youth pipeline becomes starker. World Champions France boasts the supremely talented Kylian Mbappe, the electric winger Ousmane Dembele, Lyon's 22-year-old central Tanguy Ndombele and new Bayern Munich signing Benjamin Pavard.

Gareth Southgate of England is building a squad almost exclusively consisting of youngsters and if the 10 goals they smashed past their opposition in last week's round of Euro qualifiers are any indication, the faith put in the youth is working. 20-year-old West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, Chelsea's skillful winger Callum Hudson-Odoi and Dortmund's new sensation Jadon Sancho are just some of the mercurial youngsters Southgate has at his disposal. Add to this the talent factories of Germany and Spain and one would easily conclude that Argentina is way behind

Argentina Results since World Cup 2018