Want the definition of a miracle? Take Peru, a country that hasn't qualified for a World Cup since 1982 and is now closer than ever. Want the definition of a catastrophe? Take Argentina, who in recent years has lost a total of three finals and could get left out of next summer's World Cup in Russia entirely.
On the face of it, a 1-1 draw with bottom-dwelling, already-eliminated Venezuela in front of 60,000 at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires was a godawful result for Argentina, and it really was. But from a broader perspective there’s a lot more to analyze and discuss than simply draw = bad.
With only a handful of matches remaining in World Cup qualifying, it’s become clear which nations are in serious danger of missing out on Russia next summer. While all will become clear in October, here are 25 global superstars who, if World Cup qualifying ended today, would either fail to appear at the tournament or would need to navigate a playoff to qualify.
Before Argentina and Uruguay kicked off Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez joined together in makeshift jerseys combining to display 2030, the year the two nations would like to co-host the World Cup. The two countries then played some brother-in-law offense as they scrapped to a 0-0 draw in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying on Thursday evening in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi wearing no. 20 and 30 shirts tonight to promote Uruguay and Argentina's joint 2030 World Cup bid.
Messi is an icon, so everywhere Messi goes, folks are trying to get close to him. One little lad in Montevideo, where Messi and the Argentinian National Team are preparing for a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay, tried to get close to the best footballer in the world, but was thwarted by security.
Or so he thought.
Mino Raiola, the footballing super agent with a clientele list including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Gianluigi Donnarumma, believes that Lionel Messi must leave Barcelona to show the world that he’s good at football.
Barcelona’s new transfer strategy has taken an odd twist. Unable to secure stars like Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele in a timely manner, Barca is looking to create more Lionel Messis. The Argentine star is up to the task. His wife is reportedly pregnant with the couple’s third child.
Barcelona the club might still be mad at Neymar for leaving, but the Brazilian forward's former teammates are clearly still buddies with him.
Look how happy everyone looks in this picture!
Every football club in the world wants to buy Lionel Messi, but there are only a few that can even begin to think about maybe trying to buy him, because Messi would cost a truly absurd amount of money. We'll start with Lionel Messi's $352.7 million release clause, a sum so insanely high that until a few weeks ago it was unfathomable that anyone would ever pay it, even for the best footballer ever.
Like a worm-filled peach, Barcelona appear to be rotting from the inside. After the departure of Neymar and the inability to bring in a replacement (they reportedly have given up on Philippe Coutinho), Barcelona's business-folk have not been holding up their end of the bargain.
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