Ranking the World Cup favorites based on international break performances

#4 Argentina

Argentina suffered humiliation against Spain

After a frustrating qualification campaign, Jorge Sampaoli and Lionel Messi finally led the Albiceleste to another World Cup tournament. They also took part in the International friendlies and faced a couple of big tests.

However, it was unfortunate that the team could not count on their best player Lionel Messi as the Argentine was left out with a hamstring injury. Initially, they were able to cope with the absence of the Barca legend as they beat Italy 2-0, with both Ever Banega and Manuel Lanzini on target to claim a vital victory.

However, they would later feel the absence of their star man when they faced Spain in their last match. They suffered an embarrassing loss as they were hammered 6-1 by Julen Lopetegui's men at the Wanda Metropolitan stadium, with Real Madrid superstar, Isco scoring his first career hat-trick in the match.