Argentina’s preparation for the world cup could not have been worse as they had to cancel their final friendly match with Israel, just a few days before the start of the world cup. But even if they had played that friendly, it would not have made much difference.
While their rivals at world cup were looking to play with teams with similar playing styles as their group stage opponents, one could not understand what Argentina meant to do with their friendlies. They played Haiti, ranked 104 in the Fifa rankings, in their last friendly before the world cup.
Their supposed match up Israel is no better with a ranking of 93. Argentina had nothing to gain from opponents who could never pose any challenge to them. They did not figure out their best eleven from these matches. Most importantly, it was impossible to analyze their tactics by playing against weaker opponents.
Argentina could have played against African and European opponents to better prepare to meet Croatia and Nigeria in their group stage fixtures. Instead, they went for a central American team who could not put up a fight to them. Argentina should change this approach in their preparations, they have to show a little more professionalism if they are to progress any further in the future.