Argentina

Lionel Messi is captaining Argentina at a record sixth World Cup tournament, breaking the five-tournament record he shared with Lothar Matthäus, Antonio Carbajal, Rafael Márquez, Andrés Guardado and Cristiano Ronaldo.

No nation has won consecutive World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 — Argentina are attempting to end a 64-year drought.

Argentina qualified top of CONMEBOL with 38 points from 18 games, including 12 wins — the most decisive qualification campaign in the group.

Six Atlético Madrid players feature in the squad (Alvarez, González, Almada, Simeone, Molina, Musso), making Diego Simeone's club the biggest single contributor — and Giuliano Simeone plays for his father's team while representing a different nation.

Emiliano 'Dibu' Martínez has won the FIFA Best Goalkeeper award three consecutive times (2022, 2023, 2024), cementing his status as the world's best shot-stopper heading into the tournament.

Diego Maradona scored the infamous 'Hand of God' and the dazzling 'Goal of the Century' in the same 1986 quarter-final against England — just four minutes apart.

In the very first World Cup final in 1930, Argentina and Uruguay couldn't agree on which ball to use — so each half was played with a different team's ball. Argentina led 2-1 at half-time with their ball; Uruguay won 4-2 with theirs.