Years of near misses ended with Copa America glory and a World Cup in Qatar.
For years Lionel Messi carried the weight of a nation that had not won a major trophy since 1993. Final defeats in 2014, 2015 and 2016 made the wait even harder.
Winning the Copa America at the Maracana in 2021 lifted that weight and gave a young squad belief.
A year later Messi scored twice in one of the greatest World Cup finals ever played, and Argentina finally lifted the trophy again.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, used under a free licence.
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