5 Reasons Lionel Messi Should Retire From Argentina After World Cup 2018

In truth, it's surprising that Jorge Sampaoli’s broken Argentina side even made it to the knockout stage of this World Cup. The fact that they led 2-1 against France for a short period is equally shocking, considering their poor performances against Iceland and Croatia in the group stage. Then, of course, order was restored as France's Kylian Mbappé took the game by the scruff of the neck and led Les Bleus to a spectacular win.

The final scoreline of 4-3 would have surprised many, but the fact that France won the game was hardly a shock. Argentina's manager had looked lost and confused in the group games, with the players almost seeming to turn on him at one point, and Argentina's Football Association has been a mess for a long time now.

Before the tournament, Argentina had to cancel a friendly in Israel after Messi himself received death threats, and higher-ups within the AFA have been accused of corruption for years, lacking professionalism and not doing enough to help the team develop. In short, Argentina's problems aren't going to get solved overnight, and Messi, who is used to an exemplary professional system at Barcelona, has been sick of it all for a long time, calling the AFA a "disaster" in the wake of the 2016 Copa América. It's highly likely that the team's 2018 World Cup failure could be the final straw.