Lionel Messi has named England as one of the favourites in Qatar (Picture: Getty)
Argentina captain Lionel Messi has named England as one of the ‘favourites’ to win the World Cup in Qatar.
The Paris Saint-Germain playmaker will lead Argentina into the tournament, which is likely to be his last in the famous blue and white shirt.
Messi won the Copa America in 2021 to finally land silverware with his country but he still has regrets over Argentina’s 2014 World Cup final defeat to Germany.
Argentina are on a 34-match unbeaten run heading into the tournament but Messi is downplaying his country’s chances as he wants to remain an underdog.
Instead, the 35-year-old says there are five favourites for the tournament, including Gareth Southgate’s England.
Messi has tipped Brazil to go far in the competition (Picture: Getty)
‘As for the favourites, there are big teams like Brazil, Germany, France, England and Spain,’ said Messi.
‘And I’m sure I’m forgetting some.
‘But if I have to keep one or two, today I think Brazil and France are the two big candidates for this World Cup.’
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England haven’t won the tournament since 1966 but they’ve reached the last four in each of the two competitions that Southgate has overseen.
The Three Lions were knocked out by runners-up Croatia at the 2018 World Cup and they were beaten by Italy in the final of Euro 2020, which was held at Wembley in 2021.
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