Argentina

The Argentina’s stats since winning the World Cup in 1986 haven’t been as strong. Argentina has twice failed to reach the knockout rounds, most recently in 2002, as they crashed out in the group stages. However, they have also finished as runners-up on two occasions since 1986. The most recent came in 2014, as they were beaten 1-0 in extra time by Germany in Brazil.

Their last appearance at the World Cup in 2018 was a mixed bag. They won just once in the four games that they played and narrowly avoided being eliminated in the group stages thanks to a late Marcos Rojo winner against Nigeria. Argentina played out a thriller against France in the round of 16, but defensively they weren’t strong enough, as they were edged out 4-3.

Many of the Argentina stats center around their two main forwards, who many believe to be among the greatest players that have played the game. Lionel Messi holds the record for the number of goals and appearances for his national side. Messi has played for Argentina on 162 occasions and has scored 86 goals since making his debut in 2005.

Diego Maradona is one of two Argentina captains to have lifted the World Cup, while he was also the youngest scorer for the national side when netting against Scotland, aged 18 years and seven months in 1979. However, Messi is the only player to have played for Argentina and scored against every South American team on at least one occasion.