EEven if you’re not a soccer fan, you can’t ignore the World Cup. The tournament will be held from June 11th to July 19th in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and analysts and fans are already talking and speculating about the favorites to win. Of course, the players themselves are no exception to this rule, but so are former players and former champions.
Mario Kempes, striker of the Argentina national team and winner of the 1978 World Cup, gave his views and opinions on the future of Lionel Messi and the team in this new tournament.
Kempes analyzes Argentina
With two goals from El Matador and one from Daniel Bertoni, Argentina defeated the Netherlands 3-1 in the final and became the world champion for the first time in history.
In Mexico in 1986, Diego Maradona arrived to lift Albiceleste’s second cup, and in Qatar in 2022, Leo Messi ended the drought and fulfilled a lifelong dream for himself and millions of Argentines, 36 years after Diego’s feat.
Now, in this new edition, Lionel Scaloni’s team will have to defend their title and Kempes gave his opinion on the current situation in Argentina.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Mario said in an interview on Rodrigo Rea’s YouTube channel, asserting that “the Argentine team’s play, at least in the qualifications we’ve seen, is very similar to the way they played in Qatar.” “And you can see that they are still hungry and still want to be the protagonist, because Argentina is always the protagonist.”
Kempes, who also wore the blue and white at Germany in 1974 and Spain in 1982, was also asked about current captain Lionel Messi, who has cast doubt on his presence at the 2026 World Cup. However, the former world champion said he sees himself as “more rested” since he started playing for Inter Miami, adding: “It’s true that MLS is an important league, but it’s not as big as, say, Europe. But as long as he remains enthusiastic and continues to take big steps in the United States, I think he will be an important league.”
“He is important, whether he plays or supports. I don’t know if he will play from the beginning or if he will be used for a while. It depends on how his body reacts. Let’s not forget that there are still a few months left.”
Throughout history, only eight national teams have won: Brazil (5 times), Germany and Italy (4 times), Argentina (3 times), Uruguay and France (2 times), and England and Spain (1 time).
Meanwhile, in this new World Cup involving 48 countries, the Argentina national team will be placed in Group J along with Austria, Algeria and Jordan. They will make their debut against Algeria on Tuesday 16 June, followed by matches against Austria on Monday 22 June and Jordan on Friday 26 June.
Albiceleste’s task is to defend the cup they won by defeating France in a nail-biting penalty shootout. However, only two teams have ever won the tournament twice in a row: Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962). Will Messi and his friends join them?
