{"id":37628,"date":"2026-06-29T13:14:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/argentine-media-points-out-problems-caused-by-messi-at-the-world-cup-fear-of-the-curse-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T13:14:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:14:27","slug":"argentine-media-points-out-problems-caused-by-messi-at-the-world-cup-fear-of-the-curse-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/argentine-media-points-out-problems-caused-by-messi-at-the-world-cup-fear-of-the-curse-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentine media points out problems caused by Messi at the World Cup &#8211; Fear of the curse | Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Lionel Messi&#8217;s incredible achievements at the 2026 World Cup saw the Argentine icon given the task of breaking a 24-year hex by his country&#8217;s media. The 39-year-old was back in the spotlight after making a crucial contribution in Sunday&#8217;s 3-1 Group J win over Jordan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Messi, who had been rested for the opening hour by manager Lionel Scaloni, came off the bench and produced his usual magic. He won a free kick that went around Jordan&#8217;s wall and missed the goalkeeper, scoring his sixth goal of the tournament. The eight-time Ballon d&#8217;Or winner once again made history by becoming the first player to score in seven consecutive World Cup matches. He took his total World Cup goals to 19, having already surpassed Miroslav Klose&#8217;s single-player scoring record earlier in the tournament.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>With this victory, Messi played well in each match and completed the group stage with a perfect record of three wins and nine points. Because of this, there is growing belief among Argentines that they can become the first country to successfully defend their World Cup title since Brazil achieved the feat in 1962.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>But Argentina&#8217;s biggest sports newspaper, Diario Ore, sought to temper expectations by drawing attention to the World Cup&#8217;s curse, which dates back to 2002. No country had lifted the trophy since Brazil, finishing the group stage with a perfect record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The magazine pointed out that winning the group stage perfectly could create a false sense of superiority and cause a psychological breakdown once the final tournament begins. Brazil was a rare exception, winning seven games in a row in Japan and South Korea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>This alarming statistic was used to explain that World Cups are never won in the group stage. Argentina&#8217;s first-round loss to Saudi Arabia in Qatar is a prime example. In fact, there are serious concerns that Argentina, with its legendary number 10, may have reached its peak too soon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>With that in mind, the little talisman set out to make history once again, just as he has done in recent weeks and throughout his illustrious career. Scaloni&#8217;s side will next face Cape Verde in the newly introduced last 32.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>But for Argentina to win a fourth World Cup, Messi&#8217;s best performances will have to come in the second half, when his opponents will inevitably prove to be much tougher.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>He did just that at the 2022 World Cup, scoring five crucial goals against Australia, the Netherlands, Croatia and France, who lost on penalties in the final, helping Argentina reach the knockout stages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2223010\/lionel-messi-argentina-world-cup\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Messi&#8217;s incredible achievements at the 2026 World Cup saw the Argentine icon given the task of breaking a 24-year hex by his country&#8217;s media. The 39-year-old was back in the spotlight after making a crucial contribution in Sunday&#8217;s 3-1 Group J win over Jordan. Messi, who had been rested for the opening hour by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-matches"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Argentine media points out problems caused by Messi at the World Cup - Fear of the curse | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/argentine-media-points-out-problems-caused-by-messi-at-the-world-cup-fear-of-the-curse-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Argentine media points out problems caused by Messi at the World Cup - Fear of the curse | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lionel Messi&#8217;s incredible achievements at the 2026 World Cup saw the Argentine icon given the task of breaking a 24-year hex by his country&#8217;s media. 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