DDespite winning everything at international level in every competition they have participated in since 2021, people still seem to have doubts about the current Argentina national team. As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, much of that can be chalked away until Lionel Messi approaches 39 years old.
Argentina has proven itself as an elite team, whether Messi plays or not. Unfortunately, fans didn’t get to see their team play against other strong teams for a long time. The national team’s last four games have all been friendlies against Puerto Rico, Angola, Mauritania and Zambia. A lack of strong competition and concerns over some of their performances in two of those games has kept Argentina off the list of World Cup favorites for many.
ESPN ranks Argentina seventh in World Cup squads, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal first
ESPN soccer writer Ryan O’Hanlon is one analyst who isn’t entirely in favor of Argentina at the moment. Now that the final list has been confirmed, O’Hanlon has ranked all 48 teams. Argentina finished seventh, leaving O’Hanlon wondering: “How important is Lionel Messi still to this team?”
In O’Hanlon’s eyes, Messi remains crucial to Argentina’s success, even though the team won without him. But even if he makes it to the World Cup, he sees six teams ahead of him.
France Spain England Brazil Portugal Netherlands
When it comes to Portugal, O’Hanlon actually questioned whether Cristiano Ronaldo would be “better off the bench”. In any case, Ronaldo’s team is ahead of Messi’s and, surprisingly, Brazil are ahead as well, despite falling far behind Argentina in World Cup qualifying.
