The curse of the Argentina national team. Passion according to Miley

Javier Miley holding a replica of the World Cup

Photo by MATIAS BAGLIETTO / NURPHOTO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP

It would seem: Argentina is the current world champion, and first place in the FIFA rankings, and the team began the group stage with a confident victory over Algeria with a score of 3:0, and Messi scored a hat-trick, which means he is in good shape - but still the bookmakers do not believe in the team’s new championship. Journalists write about the mysterious “curse of first place”, because according to statistics, teams that come to the tournament as leaders in the FIFA rankings never win the cup. But in the case of Argentina, it may be a completely different curse. About football, politics and champions - Yana Zarechnaya.

Ratings and rates

Argentina delighted the whole country three times: a goal in the 17th minute, in the 60th and in the 76th.

These three unanswered goals that Messi drove into the net of the Algerian national team have already gone down in history: this is the first World Cup hat-trick for the Argentine football legend, it was his 200th match for the national team, in his sixth (also a record) World Cup. He has also finally caught up with Miroslav Klose's previous all-time record for most goals in tournaments, and given that this is just the beginning, everyone is expecting him to set a new one.

But bookmakers are superstitious people, and even such a shock start did not make them believe in the team. Argentina is first in the FIFA rankings, but among bookmakers and even betting exchanges it is at best fifth. After the first round, the majority bet on France (about 19% on Polymarket), followed by Spain (which dropped to 14% after a 0:0 draw with Cape Verde), then England, and only then, mixed with Brazil and Portugal, Argentina, which is given about a one in ten chance.

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