The good form for the Argentina World Cup 2026 squad continued as they beat Austria 2-0 in their group match in Dallas on Monday, June 22.
Lionel Messi scored a brace against a fighting Austrian team to take his team to the round of 32. Argentina could face Uruguay or Cape Verde in their round of 32 clash.
In this article, we look at why the Argentina World Cup 2026 team’s form is dangerous for their opponents.
#1. Lionel Messi’s Talismanic Presene in the Argentina World Cup 2026 Campaign
Messi now has five goals in the tournament and 18 in World Cups overall. He has now broken Miroslav Klose’s record in this regard.
Messi plays as one of the two strikers in Argentina’s 4-4-2, but, in reality, he has a free role, which has him stationed anywhere inside the opposition half.
He either takes shots first time at the goal or plays one-touch passes to his teammates when he is on the edge of the penalty box, or plays long balls forward when he is near the half-line and gets the ball from a counter-attack.
The opposition teams should at least try to block his shots or intercept his passes from the edge of the box, as they cannot be expected to mark him everywhere inside their half.
#2. Full-Backs Staying Deep To Keep the Defence Compact
The Argentina full-backs typically stay deep to help their centre-backs out in keeping the defence compact. As a result, the Argentines are able to protect the goal alongside the width of the penalty box.
Ideally, the opponents of Argentina will need wingers who could stretch the defence wide. They would ideally need wingers who could get into the box from the sides.
The Austrian wingers were simply not able to do the same against Argentina on Monday. Their wingers lacked the ability to dribble past the Argentine full-backs and breach into the defence.
That is one of many reasons why the Argentina World Cup 2026 team’s success has been marked by two successive clean sheets so far.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
#3. Argentina’s Game Being More Vertical Than Horizontal
The Argentina World Cup 2026 campaign has so far been characterised by more vertical play from deep than a horizontal one.
With the full-backs rarely overlapping, the Argentines typically play long balls forward to their onrushing wingers or Messi himself, who could be anywhere inside the opposition half.
At times, when Messi is in a deeper position, he himself plays long balls forward to the likes of Lautaro Martinez or Julian Alvarez. Quick passing takes time off the opposition defence and catches them off guard.
This is something the opposition defence should be wary about, and that is why they should always have at least two players guarding the goal at all times. Austria, despite possessing an ordinary attack, took the risk of playing with a high line often, which gave the Argentines chances to make forays into their defence.
The Argentina World Cup 2026 campaign is off to a great start, but there is no reason why their upcoming opponents cannot stop them by playing intelligent football.
Leave a Reply