France vs Argentina: 3 reasons why Argentina lost

#2 Sampaoli got nothing right!

SOCCER: JUN 30 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 - France v Argentina

Sampaoli had one thing to do – send out the same lineup as the one vs Nigeria. However, he decided to start with Messi as a False 9 and dropped Higuain for Pavon.

That proved to be fatal as Pavon could not do anything on the wings and Messi was being marked by N'Golo Kante all the time. The fact that Messi played as a False 9 made it easier for the Chelsea star to mark him throughout the game.

Then, when Argentina needed three goals to win, and two goals to come back on level terms, he decided to bring on Meza and not Dybala or Higuain. He did bring on Aguero, but the presence of a target man would have been better.