Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Football, Lionel Messi, Argentina, Football World Cup
George Priestman
Topics: Football, Lionel Messi, Argentina, Football World Cup
A World Cup conspiracy theory points towards Lionel Messi lifting the World Cup for Argentina.
This tournament will be Messi's last World Cup as the 35-year-old looks to win the only trophy that has ever eluded him.
He broke his international curse by winning the Copa America last year but triumphing in Qatar would no doubt be a career highlight.
The omens for Argentina to win are strong, given that it links back to their famous Diego Maradona- inspired World Cup victory in 1986.
It also goes hand-in-hand (no pun intended) with a few unexpected omens that have come true following the unpredictable group stages we've just witnessed.
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The omens read: The last time Morocco topped their World Cup group was 1986.
The last time Belgium finished 3rd in their World Cup group was 1986.
The last time Canada finished bottom in their World Cup group was 1986.
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No-one expected Morocco to top a group that included Croatia, Belgium and Canada, but they were extremely impressive as they earned a knockout draw against Spain, who themselves have only beaten Iran, Australia and Costa Rica since winning the trophy in 2010.
Belgium were the big disappointments as their 'Golden Generation' came to an abrupt end following a loss to Morocco, a draw with Croatia, as well as edging out Canada, despite being massively outplayed for the majority of the game.
Which leaves Canada, who finished bottom of their group and failed to take advantage of their domination in the Belgium game before falling to the other two teams in the group.
Argentina are a regular feature in the latter stages of the tournament, having only gone out in the group stages three times in their whole history.
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Furthermore, the last time Australia reached the R016 (2006), the team (Italy) that beat them went on to win the World Cup and history has could repeat itself after Messi inspired his side to a 2-1 victory over the Socceroos on Saturday evening. The Netherlands now stand in between the Argentine superstar and a place in the semi-finals.
We could be in line for a Brazil vs Argentina semi-final to decide who goes to the final and the winner of that will be highly fancied to lift the trophy - unless it's against England in the final of course...