World Cup Champion - Argentina

• ​Champions: 3 (1978, 1986, 2022)
• Runner Ups: 3 (1930, 1990, 2014)
• GOAT: Lionel "Leo" Messi
• Mt. Rushmore: 
  • ​Diego Armando Maradona
  • Alfredo di Stefano
  • Mario Kempes

Top Five Major Highlights:

1. Argentina prides their futbol/ soccer in what they call "en la nuestra". Loose translation means, "in ours", where for Argentines it refers to a method of play where the technique is fundamental, where the love of futbol/ soccer in the center of everything, based on the soccer played on the streets and rising from poverty. And the first individual to bring a more formalized approach to that ideology was Cesar Luis Menotti, the manager of the 1978 World Cup and the first in the nations history, and the era started in 1974 ensuring he brings up the players and right tactics for that 1978 victory.
2. The 1978 World Cup for Argentina is one filled with iconic moments of brilliance in the pitch, but much controversy outside the pitch. Folks credit the work done of Argentina in the pitch, is rightfully rewarded with the title, but it does come with blemishes and conspiracies. The first one being Argentina facing one of the most violent dictatorships of their time. In which, Videla used to propogate an Argentine victory for his political gain, and to esae the tensions of the "desaparecidos" or lives disappeared. The second was a match against Peru in which, Argentina had to beat Peru by four goals or more to progress. The way Argentina won basically fueled rumors that the match was fixed. For instance, Videla the dictator of the country at that time, made a presence in the Peruvian locker room (along with the Peruvian dictator), days in which there was an off scheduled and large shipment of wheat and resources from Argentina to Peru. Also, the time Argentina made the fourth goal, there was a bomb in the house of the Minister of Finance - the individual who was very critical of the World Cup Spending. The third was the exclusion of a young Diego Armando Maradona for that club.
3. As lady luck has it, fortunes and misfortunes do go both ways. First and foremost, Argentina boasts what is considered in general opinion, two of the four players in futbol/ soccer Mt. Rushmore, and the majority selection of the GOAT being Maradoa or Messi. Therefore, we cannot go without highlighting Diego Armando Maradona, and the 1986 World Cup. A World Cup in which he carried that team to a championship. Furthermore, Argentina were the protagonists and beneficiaries to arguably the most iconic moment in all of World Cup competitions. And yes that is Maradona's "Hand of God". It was the English that were victims to arguably the most contentious goal scored by whom people consider to be the GOAT of the sport, that potentially could have costed the England team a semifinal place in the World Cup. Moreover, the lasting image and iconic goal of Maradona slicing through the entire England team, less than a couple minutes apart from the "hand of God" goal, makes that sequence between Argentina and England, perpetual. Now add the fact that Argentina and England are arguably one of World Football's/ Futbol/ Soccer Top 5 biggest rivalries, fueled by not only moments on the pitch, but politics outside (Las Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands).
4. The Messi generation (still being written). Messi has delivered EVERYTHING you need for country. Messi will end up as the leading goal scorer and most capped player for Argentina in all competitions. Messi has been able to deliver a World Cup and Copa America trophies (plus a World Cup Runner Up run in 2014). What has always stayed in most futbol/ soccer fan's mind, prior to the 2022 triumph, is Maradona in 1986 carried the Argentina team to a World Cup, where Messi had failed to do so up to that point, in which culminated in one of the greatest sports triumphs in football/futbol history. And although Messi's club record and statistics, along with Cristiano Ronaldo, are unprecedented, what has many fans and participants of the sport now putting Messi as the definitive GOAT is elusive World Cup. 
5. Other major championships: They have won 15 Copa Americas with 14 runner ups.