Argentina arrives in Qatar with a 5-0 World Cup warm-up triumph.
Defending champions France have landed in Doha, while Argentina and superstar Lionel Messi arrived early Thursday morning after a 5-0 warm-up victory.
Messi, now 35, has won an impressive number of individual and team honors, but he may never have another opportunity to lead Argentina to a World Cup title.
After a 5-0 friendly win over the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, Messi and the Argentine squad landed in Doha, the Qatari capital, at 2:30 a.m. (2330 GMT).
One of the tournament favorites, South America will open against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as part of Group C, which also includes Mexico and Poland.
As a result of Messi’s 91st international goal, the 1978 and 1986 World Cup champions extended their unbeaten run to 36 games.
Even though his team is favored to win in Qatar, Messi is remaining realistic about their chances.
A very pleasant and enthusiastic crew, but we’re considering taking things slowly. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner acknowledged as much in an interview with the South American football federation CONMEBOL.
On Wednesday, France landed in Doha, Qatar, in an attempt to become the first team to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962.
Hugo Lloris, Kylian Mbappe, and Antoine Griezmann are among the squad’s ten 2018 champions.
The reigning champions are missing Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, two of their best players in the middle of the field. They are in a group with Australia, Denmark, and Tunisia.
Karim Benzema, winner of the 2014 and 2015 Ballon d’Or awards, will be making his first World Cup appearance since that year.
After an eight-year absence, the United States is back at the top table of football, and Christian Pulisic says the team can change the world’s perception of American soccer at this World Cup.
Pulisic told AFP, “That’s what we’re here to do.” Perhaps it hasn’t been the most popular sport in the United States.
“But we want to change the way that the world sees American soccer. That’s one of our goals.”
The build-up to the tournament in Qatar has been dominated by concerns over Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers, women and the LGBTQ community.
Pleas from football’s world governing body FIFA for a switch of focus to football have gone unheeded by some countries.
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal said on Wednesday supporters boycotting the tournament were “right to do that” but hoped his team would do enough to persuade fans at home to follow them from afar.
“I hope that we play so fantastic that at the end of the tournament when we play the final they shall look on television and see how good we are.”
The veteran coach hit out at FIFA earlier this year, calling its decision to award Qatar the World Cup “ridiculous”.
“I think you have to play in football countries. (They have) more experience with everything,” he said on Wednesday.
England supporters from India outnumbered fans from England nearly 10 to one as Gareth Southgate’s team rolled into their World Cup base on Tuesday.
The supporters said they were angered by reports in the British and French media that they were “fake fans”.
Sajidh, 29, said Indian football fans in Qatar had been “outraged” by reports suggesting they had been paid to wear the shirts of World Cup nations.
“It is purely fake news and I would like to say loud and clear that none of us have been paid in any way,” added Sajidh, who gave only one name.
“We are diehard England fans.”
World Cup organisers weighed in on the issue on Wednesday, saying supporters from across the world had contributed to the local atmosphere.
Many media outlets and social media users have questioned whether or not these supporters are “real,” the group said in a statement.
Unfortunately expected, we strongly disagree with these claims.
