Argentina to be seeded team at 2018 World Cup

1. The seedings: For both qualified and unqualified teams. Some teams has the possibility of being seeded (2 seedings) differently depending on the qualifications of other available teams.

   Top Seeds

   Russia
   Germany (Ranked 1 in FIFA rankings)
   Brazil (Ranked 2 in FIFA rankings)
   Portugal (Ranked 3 in FIFA rankings)
   ❤️🇦🇷Argentina🇦🇷💥 (Ranked 4 in FIFA rankings)
   Belgium (Ranked 5 in FIFA rankings)
   Poland (Ranked 6 in FIFA rankings)
   France (Ranked 7 in FIFA ranking)

   2nd seeded teams

   Spain
   Uruguay
   England
   Columbia
   Mexico

   Possible 2nd seeded teams depending on other’s qualification:

   Costa Rica
   Iceland

   2nd seeded teams which are still playing for qualification:

   Italy
   Switzerland
   Peru

   Possible 2nd seeded teams depending on both on their own and other’s qualifications:

   Croatia
   Denmark
   N Ireland

   • 3rd Seeded teams:

     Egypt
     Iran

     Possible 3rd Seeded teams depending on other’s qualification:

     Nigeria
     Iceland
     Costa Rica
     Serbia
     Japan

     3rd seeded teams still playing for qualifications:

     Sweden
     Rep Ireland
     Tunisia
     Senegal
     Congo

     Possible 3rd seeded teams depending both their own and others qualifications:

     Croatia
     Denmark
     Australia
     N Ireland

     • 4th seeded team:

       Panama
       S Korea
       Saudi Arabia

       Possible 4th seeded teams depending on other’s qualifications:

       Nigeria
       Japan
       Serbia

       4th seeded team still playing for qualifications:

       Ivory Coast
       Greece
       Honduras
       Morocco
       South Africa
       New Zealand
       Burkina Faso
       Cape Verde

       Possible 4th seeded team depending on its own and others qualifications:

       Australia

       • Of all the teams that have already qualified to play in the WC
         Argentina have the possibility to be in a group with as easy as
         Iceland
         Egypt
         Suadi Arabia

         Or as tough as (AKA Group of death)

         Spain /England
         Costa Rica
         Nigeria

         (Sweden [3 ] and Italy [ 2 ] did not qualify yet but that could be a possibility if they do)

2. Spain and Italy not seeded. I am worried we will end in same group

   • We will not get Italy and Spain both only one out of them is possibility as both r from same pot

3. This is a great article by Tim Vickery of ESPN.
   http://www.espnfcasia.com/blog/espn-fc-united-blog/68/post/3226519/fixing-argentina-before-world-cup-involves-smoother-youth-structure-supporting-lionel-messi-rebuilding-defence

   I should also add that Agentina has not had any decent fullback/wingback since the era of Javier Zanetti and Juan Pablo Sorin. Marcos Rojo is a decent leftback with a good pace but he is currently injured. Other fulbacks/wingbcks are simply not upto the standard and can’t even provide direct threat from the flank. The flank has become Argentina’s weak point and has been the channel used by other teams to attack Argentina. When this happens, the midfield is stretched to provide cover in the wide area thus preventing the midfielders from providing support for the attackers. As a result, the attackers are isolated most of the time up front. This is especially true when Argentina plays with only 3 attackers or less. Argentina needs to play with at least 4 attackers to offset the weakness on the flank just like how Sabella’s team played pre WC2014.

   An attacker that can link the midfield and attack such as Di Maria; and a center forward who can play off another striker/forward in the mould of No. 7 forward such as David Villa, Thiery Henry or Luis Suarez are a must if Argentina wants to properly build a team around Messi. I believe Aguero, Benedetto and A. Correa can be that No. 7 forward. So basically, the 4 attackers are Messi, Di Maria, No. 7 and another forward. The last type of forward is quite tricky. I really like Dybala and I want to see an effective partnership between Messi and him for Argentina. However, I also believe that an old fashion No. 9 striker such as Icardi or Higuain can add another different dimension to Argentina attack. The thing that worries me is Argentina doesn’t have a proper cover for Di Maria position.

   • Argentina have an even better player for DiMaria’s position and that is Dybala. The only thing is he needs to make some adjustments to his game.

4. Possibility:

   Argentina-Spain-Croatia-Nigeria…A group of death..!

   • Nigeria was in the same group with Argentina four times in the past six WCs. We can expect Nigeria in this wc and I have watched some of their games they somehow look stronger. I don’t want Argentina to go in a difficult group like this one, coz I want Messi or one of our strikers to score many goals in the group stage to win the golden boots. I want Saudi Arabia, Iceland, and and another easy team, though Iceland won’t be that easy since they have many professional players in some of the best European leauges. VAMOS ARGENTINA!

   • Let Croatia first qualify they r very mediocre Iceland is much stronger

5. It’s been a fabulous week.Argentina qualified,Chile eliminated & my home country India qualified for Asia Cup…Vamos Argentino💓

   • Yes Vas its a tremendous week for me also….. Vamos Argentina 🇦🇷🇦🇷 and Chak de India 🇮🇳🇮🇳

6. Roy, according to the wikipedia link in your post all pots will be determined by ranking, there won’t be any geographical consideration.

7. I am sick of seeing a certain people oversell Argentina players here. If you want to give them a chance to play with the national team, sending Video clip of them to Samapoli and European football clubs will be more effective than compliment on them at Mundo.

   Senior National Team is not a club in which an average or below average players improve his football skills and this isn’t a right place young players accumulate practical experience. If anyone wants to wear a national team uniform, he must prove that he is something else in his club first. Lionel Messi earned renown by doing the same thing even if he is a fucking genius. If there is an Argentina player worth for the national team, he should do the same thing.

   Do we have to watch every game of Bundesliga, League 1, Brasileiro, LaLiga to know that France, Germany, Brazil and Spain have young talents and skilled players ready to make an impact for their NT? No! Fans of the international football all over the world can search anything with Google and YouTube on their smartphone and PC.

   If a player did not get any attention from football professions who have authority to call him up for their club and national team, it is the player’s fault. He should prove his value and it is not our obligation to have a great opinion of the player before he proves his competence to us.

   By the way, what is the problem if half of the Mundo people are Messi’s fans? Do they have the same goal with Brazilians and hope Argentina will fail in the 2018 WC? Perhaps Messi’s fans know more about competitors such as Brazil, Germany, France and Spain.

   Um.. Do you feel like you represented Argentina with dignity by separating Messi’s fans and you? Think twice before saying because Mundo is open to everyone. And you’d better find a player and send a letter or video clip of your favorite player to Sampaoli if you care about Argentina NT and if you have time to show hostility toward Messi and his fans.

   • There a big difference being a Messi fan and an Argentina fan. There is nothing wrong with it. But the emotions towards the NT are clearly different and understanding of the NT is different. For example and Argentina fan can cheer for Zenit or Sevilla against Barcelona with Messi due to the other Argentine players. Because their love for Argentina.
     Leo is my favorite player but had we not qualified, I was ready to stay away from football til COPA 2019, knowing that the team my heart beats for was not going to be at the WC. For Messi fans, life would have just gone on as usual because they will see Messi magic at Barcelona anyway.
     I support FC Barcelona too but not ahead of Argentina. Therefore this season, I prefer Barca to be eliminated in the QF or SF of the UCL, so that Leo is a bit rested for the WC. Fuck the Ballon D’Or, World Cup or a COPA title trump that stupid award even for Messi himself.

     • @Sabellista, I totally agree with you! I’ll even go one step further and say if you’re Argentinian, it affects you even more. I think as Argentinians, we’re more inclined to take it to heart and be a lot more critical and emotional of players and coaching staff. It hits you in the heart more when you see your own NT perform badly and possibly miss the WC.

       I’ll admit I’ve made comments that can come across as irrational on this forum but it’s the pain and anger taking control. That’s what happens when it’s your own NT involved as opposed to being a fan of a particular player or football team…and I certainly don’t mean any disrespect to Argentina fans here because we’re all one big family here at mundo but it’s just different and affects Argentines differently to other non-Argentine people. It’s simply a fact.

       With that being said, LA PUTA MADRE, VAMOS ARGENTINGA CARAJO!!!! We made it!!! I didn’t think we would and am more than happy to be proven wrong 😂😂😂

       • I get all of your guys points, i am not argentine but i have supported argentina before i remember to walk and i am from Punjab, india where we had a statue of Maradona at our school and everyone is a argentina fan. but you have to remenber by throwing names and suggesting names is not whats gonna make the team better, and @eun he is right if u think some player is playing out of his skin and performing amazing day in day out then he must be getting noticed for his level of performance by the bigger clubs, scouts, national team scouts, bigger agents and so on and on. but i don’t give shit if and it certainly doesn’t make u a bigger fan if u watch the Argentine League (Gonzalo) or not. what matters is how can we give our best thoughts and updates on OUR TEAM the most, and (Gonzalo) is doing good job no thought on it but u have to look at the bigger picture and stop bantering or arguing over who is messi fan vs real Argentina fan (ArjunMessi) i started out being Maradona fan (1986) and now i have become a Argentina fan, over the years new players emerge and we all support them, yes i comment very little her but i read the blog everyday 3 to 4 times a day to see the update and this is not only during the qualifiers but religiously. we need to make our fan base bigger than any other country fan base and make our team the best. SO everyone is welcome and we should have constructive talks and not talk shit to each other. shit talking is for the streets, ( at least you can fight and beat the fuck out of each other that way other than hide behind the CPU), sorry for spelling names wrong if i did but i guess it was a rant that i had to get out. Vamos Argentina.

         • Guys, let’s create a friendly atmosphere and concentrate on the team progress. At the end of the day we all are Argentina fans and what we all want is to see Argentina win the WC. Everyone who has a different point of view than others then they can get their message across without hurting others. “Be Positive” that is my slogan whenever I log into Mundo! Vamos Argentina!!!

         • Hi,
           We must know that Argentina fans and Messi’s fans want the exact same thing, the 2018 World Cup Trophy. After all, Messi is Argentine.

           I found an interesting thing about Messi’s fans after reading comments below articles. They hope Messi will love Argentina less because they don’t want to see Messi struggle for the country. But they know Messi loves Argentina madly and he won’t stop putting efforts to deliver the WC trophy to Argentina. And they know the trophy is necessary for them to finish an argument with Ronaldo’s fans and make Maradona quiet.

           I saw many Barcelona fans wishing Lionel Messi to win the WC trophy. They were worried if Messi got upset after failing to qualify for the 2018 WC. These Barcelona fans talked like that because they appreciate Messi’s devotion to FC Barcelona. They said they want to see him happy with Argentina at least one time. That’s it. I liked the way they treat their player.
           I saw some Mundo people talking about Messi as if he is somebody in Europe. Maybe he has dual nationality. But it is too obvious to deny that Messi’s heart goes out to Argentina.

           People in my country envy Argentine because the best player on the planet is Argentine and some Messi’s fans in my country are rooting for Argentina more than our country. It sounds crazy doesn’t it? They want to see the best footballer in the world finish his career with the WC trophy. I am not sure if they will continue to support Argentina as much as they do now after Messi retires. But they will care about Argentina because Messi loves Argentina.

           Thus, it is useless to distinguish Messi’s fans from Argentina fans. Even Barcelona’s fans say they want Messi to win the WC rather than a Champions League if possible.

     • I’m a diehard Messi fan and I had already vowed that if Argentina didn’t qualify for the world cup, i wasn’t going to watch any barcelona match ever again. The world cup has been the only thing I’ve been waiting for since 2016. So no, not all Messi fans were going to keep on watching Messi magic with Barcelona. Watching him rip things up in Barcelona while knowing that he won’t even be in the world cup would have been too hurtful to bear.

8. 1. Di Maria is wasteful but atleast he produces something. I am disappointed with other wingers. I mean yesterday there was 4 wingers in our team…Acuna, Di Maria, Messi, Salvio…How many wingplays you have noticed? How many crosses? I saw none. How many forward runs down the wing? Again very little. I miss Lavezzi.

   2. We need midfielders who are always trying a forward pass, otherwise we won’t be able to dominate better opponents.

   3. Defense is good, very good. We play with just 3 defenders, it works.

   4. Messi is far more effective playing as a forward. Beneditto makes a lot of distracting and space opening runs.

   5. I wish we had Veron of Parma and Cambiasso of 2010 with us 😀 Even Maxi and Lucho. I am not sure Roman would fit today’s setup. Paredes must be tried, he is one of very few who can provide forward and vertical passes.

   • In terms of wingers, the way I see it, the only pure wingers we had in this team were Salvio and Rigoni. Acuña’s natural position is a left-sided inside midfielder, probably same for Di Maria, certainly that’s where they have made most impact in their careers.

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