Group                                          : Group F with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran and Nigeria

Current Fifa Ranking        : 3rd with 1251 points

World Cup Appearances : 1930, 1934, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010

Best Achievement             : Winners in 1978 and 1986 and Runners Up in 1930 and 1990.

Head Coach                             : Alejandro Sabella

Captain                                 : Lionel Messi

Having the current generation’s best player in the world immediately boosts your favourites tag, yet Lionel Messi is not the only threat this side contains. They are now a much tighter squad under the management which Alejandro Sabella introduced, having drifted fairly easily through qualification. They can be considered as contenders should the same tenacity shown during the qualifiers be in place.

One of the advantages given to the Albiceleste is the fact that they’ve been drawn into a fairly easy group. Dzeko and co at Bosnia-Herzegovina are no walk-over, and neither will Iran and Nigeria be, however one can safely assume that Argentina shall top this group. Messi will also feel that he needs international success to gold plate his status as the best player of all time, giving him that added incentive.

Apart from the Ballon D’or collecting talisman, Sabella’s options are rich in quantity as well as quality. AS Monaco’s Sergio Romero, is still seen as a dependable number one, whilst  in defence, Inter Milan’s Hugo Campagnaro, Benfica’s Ezequiel Garay, Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta and Newcastle United’s Fabricio Coloccini makes for an ardent yet error prone backline. Their impressive midfield with Real Madrid’s Angel Di Maria, Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano, Inter Milan’s Ricky Alvarez is one to fear. The undeniable force in this squad, however, comes from attack, where Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain all have the ability to walk into any team in the world.

Sabella has indeed constructed a title winning side, with the weather conditions in Brazil working perfectly well with his squad. A surmountable obstacle lies in the group stages and from then on, one could say that they have to potential reach the semis or go further. Lionel Messi is, as always, the one to watch out for.

Latest Betting Odds on Argentina