Ranking the top 3 favourites for the 2019 Copa America trophy

#2 Argentina

Messi would be leading Argentina's charge

Current FIFA ranking - 11

Head coach - Lionel Scaloni

Player to watch - Lionel Messi

This must surely represent the last chance of a highly talented but underperforming team of Argentine players to finally win something for their country.

Over the last two decades, few if any country can genuinely claim to have produced as much talent like Argentina, with La Albiceleste boasting numerous world-class players who have made the world envious of their talents.

However, despite triumphing in consecutive editions of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2005 and 2007 as well as winning successive Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008, the Argentine players have failed to make the step up to the senior team, consistently failing on the biggest stages.

The crux of the so-called 'golden generation' have gradually bowed out, with Javier Mascherano and Gonzalo Higuain no longer on the international scene, but one man who still remains is Lionel Messi.

The 31-year-old has played his way into the annals of history as possibly the greatest player of all time, breaking all sorts of records with Barcelona and winning all there is to win with the Catalans.

However, a major blot on his resume is his lack of success on the international scene and with time running out, Lionel Messi has fewer chances to etch his name in Argentine folklore, especially seeing as his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo has two international trophies to show in his burgeoning medal collection.

With 14 Copa America wins, Argentina is the second most successful side in the tournament's history, one behind Uruguay but rather surprisingly, they have not triumphed on their continent since 1993 (which incidentally was their last major trophy, while they have lost four finals since then).

This means that fans of La Albiceleste have been on an agonizing 26-year trophy drought and the 2019 Copa America offers an opportunity to right this anomaly, with the opportunity to do so on enemy territory only adding to the allure.