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Lionel Messi, captain of the Argentina national team, has admitted that he is counting down the days till the end of his legendary career at the World Cup in Qatar. In his opinion, his squad has a strong shot at taking first place.
The upcoming WorldCup22 in Qatar will be Messi’s fifth, and he admitted in an interview that he is both excited and worried. This will be the 35-year-old legend’s fifth World Cup appearance, and he has yet to win the tournament’s top prize.
One last time at the World Cup
The Argentina captain confirmed in the same talk that it would be his final one and said he was anxious and nervous at the same time. Despite this, he is in an upbeat disposition towards the situation.
Messi believes his team’s 2021 Copa America final victory over hosts Brazil was a turning point after a string of near-misses, and Argentina will travel to Qatar full of confidence as a result.
According to Messi, anything can happen in the World Cup because every match is so intense. Then he said that even odds-on favorites don’t always prevail. When asked, he can’t say whether or not his squad was even the favorite. If you’re not sure yourself, we have a list of all the World Cup betting odds 2022.
The 35-year-old striker said he was in good physical shape after a more successful preseason than last year when he first joined PSG from Barcelona and added that this would indeed be his final World Cup.
Messi’s international stats
Despite his club’s success, Messi has not had the same impact on Argentina. Argentine soccer teams triumphed at the World Cup in 1978 and 1986.
The only teams he has failed to score against in Europe’s top division are Inter Milan, Udinese, Rubin Kazan, and Atletico Madrid, out of a total of 44 he has faced from 19 different countries.
It’s entirely possible that he’ll break his own Champions League record before the end of the 2022-23 season, with both Atletico and Inter competing in the tournament.
As a result of their 1-1 tie with Benfica in the Champions League group stage of the 2022-23 season, PSG is still undefeated. Messi has once again etched his name into the Champions League record books.
His journey with Argentina
Argentinian soccer came within one win of ending a lengthy winless streak on three separate occasions: the 2014 World Cup final (beaten by Germany) and the 2015-2016 Copa America final (losing to Chile).
He also mentioned being required to play for the national club for a long time in the same interview. Even in years when they didn’t achieve any victory and were mocked for being losers, there were still some incredible moments.
Maybe it was the way he described his passion for the Argentine people as “unconditional,” or the great things he spoke about his squad. His time spent playing for his country was something he treasured, something he described as “unique.”
The veteran leader of an Argentine team full of promising young players who just ended their country’s 28-year drought for an international trophy by winning the Copa America. He said that he was looking forward to the upcoming tournament in Qatar.
Messi continued that It’s been very difficult, but in 2019 a new bunch came, and there were a lot of young people among them. It was a huge factor in his team’s success and ultimately winning Copa America.
Closing thoughts
On November 22, Argentina will kick up its World Cup campaign against Saudi Arabia. Their last warm-up encounter will be against the United Arab Emirates. The other two clubs in the group are from Mexico and Poland.
Don’t miss out on Messi’s final World Cup appearance by catching Argentina in action at the World Cup 2022 free livestream on our live stream channels.