World Cup 2018: 5 of the tournament's most disappointing stars so far

#1 Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Messi despite his brilliance never got going at Russia 2018

One of Argentina’s greatest ever players, for too long the weight of expectation on Messi’s shoulders to have a Maradona 2.0 effect on the national team’s fortunes seem to have weighed him down.

However, he failed to get going during the World Cup, affected in no small way by the incompetence of Argentina's manager Jorge Sampaoli and the daft nature of the tactics employed.

His missed penalty against Iceland was the low point of what has been a miserable campaign for the Argentine where he has looked slow, not affected play as much as he can and has been man marked at every point in time.

He was almost non-existent in the 3-0 defeat to finalists Croatia as the man-marking tactics employed by Zlatko Dalic's men curtailed him effectively. These tactics and the brilliance of Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric forced one of the world's greatest players to fall deep into midfield.

He was roused for the last group game against Nigeria where he scored a majestic goal and made two assists in the 4-3 loss to France in the second round.

Despite these efforts, he never really got going and he will look back with disappointment on the World Cup.