5 things that could go wrong during 2018 FIFA World Cup

#3 Messi could be heading for an early exit

Lionel Messi's Argentina could be heading home early

The idea that the greatness of a World Cup could hinge on the destiny of one player sounds ridiculous, but there’s no denying that a tournament is better if it has its best players heading into the latter stages. 2014 saw Cristiano Ronaldo heading home after the group stages and only a fool would claim the tournament was better for it. 2018 should see better fortunes for Ronaldo, whose side have been drawn into a relatively easier group with Spain, Iran and Morocco, but the same cannot be said for his biggest rival.

Lionel Messi’s Argentina have been drawn into what appears to be the toughest group in the whole tournament, facing off against European dark horses Croatia, Nigeria – who appear to be ready to reach the same heights they once did in the 1990s – and Iceland, the masters of upset, as England can attest to this fact. And while Argentina have enough firepower on paper, at least, to get through the group stage, they made a mess of qualifying and had to rely on a Messi hat-trick to beat Ecuador to get them through in the end.

With Messi’s powers slowly beginning to wane, can Argentina really rely on him to drag them kicking and screaming through such a tough World Cup group? Despite having some big names, Jorge Sampaoli’s side never looked like clicking during qualifying, and the likes of Paulo Dybala, Angel di Maria and Sergio Aguero just haven’t gotten close to their club form.

Even with Messi in top gear they could struggle. And if they do face an early exit – it’d be their first since 2002 – the tournament would certainly suffer the loss of one of its marquee stars.