Some Argentine World Cup records can be broken this tournament and we have all the statistics.
From the youngest player to the oldest player, from the number of clean sheets to the number of goals scored, we have all the numbers! Beginning with the World Cup records and statistics:
Diego MARADONA holds the Argentine record for the number of World Cup’s he has participated in (4 World Cup’s). Only two players on the current squad have been with the team since the 2006 FIFA World Cup: Javier MASCHERANO and Lionel MESSI.
Diego MARADONA: 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994
Javier MASCHERANO and Lionel MESSI: 2006, 2010, 2014
Diego MARADONA: 21 matches at FIFA World Cup’s
Javier MASCHERANO: 16 matches
Lionel MESSI: 15 matches
The only way Lionel MESSI can surpass Diego MARADONA would be if he plays in all the matches and Argentina win in the quarter finals (as that would secure a semi-final spot which would mean a seventh match either the 3rd place match or the final). There is no way the two can be at 21 matches.
As for the forwards, Lionel MESSI and Gonzalo HIGUAIN when compared to Gabriel BATISTUTA:
Gabriel BATISTUTA: 10 goals at FIFA World Cup’s
(4 goals in 1994, 5 goals in 1998, 1 goal in 2002)
Lionel MESSI: 5 goals at FIFA World Cup’s
(1 goal in 2006, 4 goals in 2014)
Gonzalo HIGUAIN: 5 goals at FIFA World Cup’s
(4 goals in 2010, 1 goal in 2014)
For Lionel MESSI, he has yet to score a goal in the knockout stages.
In the goalkeeping department, Sergio ROMERO is extremely close to a record set by Ubaldo FILLOL. The legendary goalkeeper played in 13 World Cup matches. Sergio ROMERO is currently on 12 matches.
2010: Nigeria, South Korea, Greece, Mexico, Germany
2014: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany
Since 2016 Copa America final with Argentina:
Paulo Dybala: 0 goals, 8 matches
Gonzalo Higuain: 1 goal (WCQ), 8 matches
Sergio Aguero: 2 goals (Friendly’s), 7 matches
Angel Di Maria: 2 goals (1 in WCQ, 1 in friendly), 17 matches
Lionel Messi: 6 goals (all 6 in WCQ), 10 matches
For the three goalkeepers, here’s the number of matches played in 2017-2018 season (per TNT Sports):
Sergio ROMERO: 10 matches
Willy CABALLERO: 13 matches
Franco ARMANI: 68 matches
The rest of the 2018 FIFA World Cup squad statistics:
A total of 13 of the 23 players have scored for Argentina (only four of them have scored in a World Cup):
Gabriel MERCADO: 3 goals – 0 at a World Cup
Federico FAZIO: 1 goal – 0 at a World Cup
Nicolas OTAMENDI: 4 goals – 0 at a World Cup
Cristian ANSALDI: 1 goal – 0 at a World Cup
Marcos ROJO: 2 goals – 1 at a World Cup (vs. Nigeria, 2014)
Javier MASCHERANO: 3 goals – 0 at a World Cup
Ever BANEGA: 7 goals – 0 at a World Cup
Lucas BIGLIA: 1 goal – 0 at a World Cup
Manuel LANZINI: 1 goal – 0 at a World Cup
Angel DI MARIA: 19 goals – 1 at a World Cup (vs. Switzerland, 2014)
Lionel MESSI: 61 goals – 5 at a World Cup (vs. Serbia & Montenegro 2006, vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina 2014, vs. Iran 2014, two vs. Nigeria 2014)
Sergio AGUERO: 36 goals – 0 at a World Cup
Gonzalo HIGUAIN: 32 goals – 5 at a World Cup (Three vs. South Korea 2010, vs. Mexico 2010, vs. Belgium 2014)
Only nine of the 23 players have World Cup experience:
Javier MASCHERANO: 2006, 2010, 2014
Lionel MESSI: 2006, 2010, 2014
Angel DI MARIA: 2010, 2014
Gonzalo HIGUAIN: 2010, 2014
Sergio AGUERO: 2010, 2014
Sergio ROMERO: 2010, 2014
Lucas BIGLIA: 2014
Marcos ROJO: 2014
Nicolas OTAMENDI: 2010
A total of 11 of the 23 players have less than 10 caps for Argentina:
Willy CABALLERO
Franco ARMANI
Federico FAZIO
Cristian ANSALDI
Nicolas TAGLIAFICO
Marcos ACUNA
Eduardo SALVIO
Giovani LO CELSO
Manuel LANZINI
Maximiliano MEZA
Cristian PAVON
The average age of the squad is of 28 years (not counting months or days) in alphabetical order:
Willy CABALLERO: 36
Javier MASCHERANO: 33
Cristian ANSALDI: 32
Lucas BIGLIA: 32
Federico FAZIO: 31
Franco ARMANI: 31
Gabriel MERCADO: 31
Sergio ROMERO: 31
Angel DI MARIA: 30
Gonzalo HIGUAIN: 30
Lionel MESSI: 30
Nicolas OTAMENDI: 30
Sergio AGUERO: 29
Ever BANEGA: 29
Marcos ROJO: 28
Eduardo SALVIO: 27
Marcos ACUNA: 26
Maximiliano MEZA: 26
Manuel LANZINI: 25
Nicolas TAGLIAFICO: 25
Paulo DYBALA: 24
Cristian PAVON: 22
Giovani LO CELSO: 22
These are just some of the statistics of the players. We will continue to add more as the tournaments gets closer!
