Lionel Messi is undeniably a great player. He is arguably one of the greatest soccer players of all time. Messi has won lots of different awards from the Ballon d’Or to FIFA World Player of the Year. However, many people are still wondering the same thing. Will Messi win a World Cup?
As already established, Messi is fantastic. After 720 overall appearances, he has scored 629 times. He has also assisted 269 goals. He is a great goal scorer. But one of the biggest components of his overall development is how he can create beautiful plays.
He can dribble through three defenders and still make a perfect pass to his teammate to score. Messi can pinpoint the exact spot on the field for the ball to go to and make it happen.
Although all these things make him great, it seems to be a crippling factor in the success of Argentina. Messi has said that he doesn’t want to play for Argentina anymore if the team can’t play as a team. Argentina players rely on Messi to do all of the work. In trouble? Pass the ball to Messi. Need someone to score? Pass the ball to Messi.
The team revolves around the idea that Messi will be the one who carries the team to victory. Messi wants it to be a collective effort where everyone is trying no matter what. But the team relies too heavily on him, that they can’t get far in the competition without him.
It isn’t as if the team isn’t filled with good players. They have Paulo Dybala and Sergio Aguero. The team also doesn’t have to worry about Gonzalo Higuain missing easy goals anymore either.
They can learn how to play together. It needs to become a team effort instead of relying on Messi for everything. Soccer is a team sport, and Argentina needs to embrace that.
Messi’s skills can still be utilized, but they need to focus on how to use that for team success. There is potential there, but I don’t think that it will happen.
It is very similar to the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT). With all of the young talented players on that team ranging from Christian Pulisic to Weston McKennie, the team should do well. However, there are still fundamental problems within US soccer that make player development hard for the team. The potential is there, but the execution seems to be lacking.
So overall, I don’t think that Messi will be able to win a World Cup. I would absolutely love to see it. But much like the USMNT, the chances right now are slim. Argentina can get far in the 2022 World Cup, but they need to put the effort in to play as a collective team.
