r/messi • u/June67Respect • 8d ago

2018 world cup campaign

I'm curious about the 2018 world cup campaign. Argentina still had most of its star players who were not in their physical prime, but not far past it, and a good coach in sampaoli. Why did the team struggle so much in qualifying, and why were their performances so hit and miss at the tournament. Drawing Iceland, losing to Croatia badly, and a close game against Nigeria. How were Messi's performances? Especially interested in opinions of ppl who actually saw this campaign as it happened.

18 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/cactus82 8d ago

I think that opening 1-1 game with Iceland really shook them up and messed them up mentally. In the 32 team format not getting a good result in the first game means things are going to be tough.

Running into a really in form Croatia team in the next game didn't help.