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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Nick Ames and Ed Aarons

World Cup 2022 power rankings: breaking down the final 32

World Cup Qatar Christian Eriksen England Alphonso Davies Belgium Brazil France Kylian Mbappé Lionel Messi
(Clockwise from left) Argentina’s Lionel Messi; Sadio Mané of Senegal; Canada’s Alphonso Davies; Kylian Mbappé of France; Australia’s Andrew Redmayne and Aziz Behich.
(Clockwise from left) Argentina’s Lionel Messi; Sadio Mané of Senegal; Canada’s Alphonso Davies; Kylian Mbappé of France; Australia’s Andrew Redmayne and Aziz Behich. Composite: Getty/Reuters/Rex

1) Argentina

Four years ago Argentina went home from Russia in a mess. Now they look in the best shape of all the contenders and what a story it would be if Lionel Messi crowned his final World Cup with the trophy. Lionel Scaloni’s team were unbeaten in qualifying – although they must contest one more replayed dead rubber against Brazil, who they defeated last year to win a first Copa América since 1993 – and overwhelmed Italy in the “Finalissima”. Is a 36-year duck ready to be broken?

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