#5 Argentina's savior
Messi announced his retirement from the national team in 2016 after losing the Copa America Centenario final to Chile, in which he missed a crucial penalty in the penalty shootout. It was heart-breaking for him to play four international finals and return home empty-handed each time.
However, he did come up to rejoin the national team after the countrymen appealed to him and is one of the major reasons why Argentina are going to play in Russia ten days late. Argentina's performance in the COMNEBOL Qualifiers was dismal because of Messi's absence due to injury and they were about to miss the plane to Russia.
Messi proved to be the savior for the football-loving nation by scoring a hat-trick in the last COMNEBOL Qualifier against Ecuador and sent them into the World Cup. Each time Argentina needs a savior, Leo fits into that role. It is very often and very rightly quoted that Argentina is over-reliant on Messi.