Jorge Sampaoli took over the Argentine national team as the potential saviour to a disastrous World Cup qualification campaign. His work with the Chilean national team and Sevilla saw his appointment widely praised by almost everyone involved in Argentinian football. Unfortunately, this job was unlike anything Sampaoli ever had and his inconsistent squad selections, perplexing starting lineups meant it was much of the same for Argentina. In the end, Argentina needed a historic hattrick from talisman Lionel Messi to book their place in Russia, saving both Messi's and Sampaoli's blushes. With more time on his hands and as the dust has settled, the 2015 World's Best National team coach has for some, finally selected a closer representation of the best Argentinian players. 

This World Cup is just as important for Argentina as it is for the legacy of Lionel Messi. For all his achievements at club level, the little magician has yet to bring senior success to his country.  Arguably the greatest player ever to play the sport, Messi is coming off yet another record-breaking season and is in fine form as he enters his fourth World Cup. Coming so close in 2014 must leave a bad taste in the mouth of Argentina and Barcelona's all-time leading goal scorer and one can only imagine how determined he will be to go one better this time around. 

Messi's supporting cast is not to be underestimated. Manchester City's all-time leading goal scorer, Sergio Aguero has also disappointed at senior level for the Albiceleste. Aguero won an u20 World Cup and an Olympic gold with Messi but the success with senior team has somehow slipped through their fingers. Angel Di Maria also has same accolades but unlike the rest of his teammates, he seems to reserve his best performances at the international level, for some, his absence from 2014 final handed the trophy to the Germans. Javier Mascherano is in the winter of his career and has left Barcelona for the Far East, Argentina's most capped player would love to complete his impressive trophy collection with a World Cup title in Russia. Mascherano's overall decline indicates that newly crowned Premier League Champion, Nicholas Otamendi will be the man to take charge of the backline. Also in the squad is Juventus' Gonzalo Higuain, who took a lot of the blame for missed chances in recent tournaments. Higuain is coming off another 20+ goal season, his 5th in a row, and would try once again to convince his many detractors. His Juventus teammate Paulo Dybala was chosen over the controversial Mauro Icardi who scored seven more goals than him in the Italian Serie A. Dybala has yet to score for Argentina since making his debut in 2015 and it would be interesting to see how Sampaoli uses him in Russia. 

Head Coach: Jorge Sampaoli

Population: 48 million

Appearances: 17

Best: Winners 1978, Winners 1986

How they Qualified: For a team with such brilliant attacking players it is inconceivable that Argentina scored just 19 goals in all of qualifying, the same number as last-placed South American team Venezuela. This lack of goals engineered an overall frustrating campaign for Messi and his troops who only managed to qualify on the very last day. In South America, almost every team except the Brazilians faltered at some point, which essentially left the Argentinians off the hook as they qualified automatically in 3rd place of the COMEBOL log.

Star Players: Lionel Messi(Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Angel Di Maria(PSG), Nicholas Otamendi(Manchester City), Gonzalo Higuain(Juventus)

Wildcard: Paulo Dybala-The Juventus number 10 will have his eyes on him in Russia, that's if he even plays at all. Argentina has called and not used the former Palermo man on more than one occasion. The robustness and direct style of Christian Pavon may be even preferred. Nevertheless, if used, the remarkable talent that is Dybala would look to justify his inclusion in the Sampaoli's final 23.  His imagination and eye for the spectacular can sometimes decide games which would be needed in tournament football. 

Legend: Diego Maradona