Copa America champions Argentina is among the favorites to lift the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup. Lionel Messi has recently admitted that this will be his last world cup. Messi desperately wants to win the World Cup to end the nation’s 36-year drought. The 7-time Balon d’Or winner guided Argentina to the WC final in 2014 but lost against Germany in extra-time. Eight years later, they are back in the hunt for the biggest soccer trophy with a star-studded roster.

However, Argentina faced a lot of hardship after the 2014 loss. They struggled in all international tournaments, before winning the 2021 Copa America. Ex-President of the US, Barack Obama, once discussed the team’s struggles despite having Messi.

Obama’s daughters Malia and Sasha are huge Messi fans. In 2016, Obama, on his visit to Argentina, said that his daughters are keen on meeting Messi. The PSG superstar later insisted that he would jump on the opportunity to meet Obama.

“Obviously, I was surprised that he said that, but on the contrary, for me it would be completely the opposite,” Messi said.

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Later, in 2019, Barack Obama was addressing an audience in Colombia. During his speech, he discussed Argentina’s struggles in the past few years.

Barack Obama talked about Lionel Messi and Argentina’s struggles

Argentina was preparing for the 2019 Copa America, after consecutive final losses in the 2014 and 2015 editions. Barack Obama discussed the team’s struggles in international tournaments at a conference in Colombia.

“Even people that we consider geniuses work with other people in order to develop their style,” Barack Obama said at the 2019 EXMA Conference in Colombia. “In Argentina, even though Messi is wonderful, they have problems winning the World Cup. My advice to young people is that we have to recognize very few people achieve great things on their own.”

After years of disappointment, Argentina is among the favorites to win the World Cup in Qatar. Many pundits have predicted Messi lifting the world cup this time around. It would be a fitting end to the 7-time Balon d’Or winner’s illustrious career.

Argentina starts its World Cup campaign on 22 November against Saudi Arabia. They will face Mexico next on 26 November, before facing Lewandowski’s Poland in the final group game.

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Messi’s Argentina enters the competition with a 35-game unbeaten streak as they look to end Europe’s 16-year dominance of the World Cup.