Lionel Messi's Argentina have an easy-looking start to the World Cup on Tuesday based on blistering recent form and opponents Saudi Arabia's history of drubbings in tournament openers.
with top scorer and captain Messi playing his fifth and last World Cup in search of the elusive honour that would grant him immortality at home alongside Diego Maradona.
Yet they have pedigree too: this is their sixth World Cup, they reached the last 16 in 1994, and they made it to Qatar by topping their group ahead of Japan. Both teams will be noisily and massively supported when they kick off at 1000 GMT for the first game in the Lusail Stadium, the tournament's largest venue which will also host the final.
Scaloni was pained to lose "irreplaceable" midfielder Giovani Lo Celso to injury. But he still has an enviable range of talent, from the likes of Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez at the back to Leandro Paredes in the middle and the evergreen Angel Di Maria up front with Messi.
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