World Cup 2018: 4 teams that need to win the World Cup this year

#2 Argentina

Messi and Argentina out to defy critics

Critics of Lionel Messi hold his lack of international honours against him in discussions on the greatest player of all time. They say he needs to win the World Cup to be considered as the best ever. In his time at Barcelona, Messi has won just about every team and individual trophy multiple times. With Argentina though, he is still seeking a senior international trophy. He is somewhat unlucky having finished as runner-up at the 2014 World Cup, and thrice at the Copa America (2007,2015,2016).

He won the Golden Ball award at the last edition of the World Cup but his team lost to Germany in the final. Messi will be on a personal quest for International success but the Argentine team will also be looking to break the trend of losing in major international finals. Manager Jorge Sampaoli could be the man to take the team to the next step and win the World Cup.

Sampaoli has a talented team with the likes of Ever Banega (Sevilla), Angel Di Maria, Giovani Lo Celso (both Paris St-Germain), Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala (both Juventus) and Sergio Aguero (Manchester City). With the right balance, this team has the potential to go all the way and Messi could join Argentine legends Mario Kempes (1978) and Diego Maradona (1986) in leading Argentina to a World Cup title.