FIFA World Cup: Unique records scripted by Argentina
When it comes to football, Argentina are considered as one of the giants. The South American heavyweights have won the World Cup twice. The last time, they emerged champions was in 1986 when skipper Maradona scripted a famous victory. 2018 campaign has been less than ideal as they 'barely' managed to qualify for knock-outs. Here we look at World Cup records held by Argentina.
Argentina have won 2 World Cups besides being runners-up thrice
The World Cup has been held 21 times, including 2018, and the South American giants have participated in 17 editions. Argentina have gone on to feature in overall 80 games, till now, in World Cups. Out of these 80 games, they have won a 43 matches. Notably, Argentina have 2 World Cups under their belt, besides being runners-up on 3 occasions.
4th successive progression into knock-outs
Argentina have now qualified for the knock-out stages for the fourth time in a row. They beat Nigeria, on Tuesday, to make it to the round of 16 and will face France next. In 2006 and 2010, they reached the quarter-finals. In 2014, Messi's side reached the final, which they eventually lost to Germany. Interestingly, Germany had defeated Argentina in both 2006 and 2014.
Individual records of the Argentine players
Three players (Maradona, Mascherano and Messi) have played four FIFA World Cups for Argentina. Former legendary striker Gabriel Batistuta (10) is the leading scorer for the side in World Cups. Maradona (8), Stábile (8), Kempes (6) and Messi (6) follow suit. Mario Kempes (1978), Maradona (1986) and Messi (2014) have all won the Golden Ball award for being the player of the tournament.
Lionel Messi and the records for Argentina
Messi (107) surpassed Maradona (105) to become the player with the most dribbles completed in a World Cup since 1966. Messi netted the 100th goal of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia. For the 2nd edition in a row, Messi scored his first goal against Nigeria. Messi has now scored in three out of the four World Cups he has participated in.
