A Look Back at the Argentina Football Team 2017 Journey and Key Matches

Looking back at Argentina's 2017 football campaign gives me chills even now - what a rollercoaster that was. I remember watching those matches with mixed fascination and frustration, seeing this talented squad struggle to find their rhythm despite having arguably the world's best player in their ranks. The tactical shifts and personnel changes throughout that year created this fascinating narrative that I've often revisited in my analysis of international football cycles.

The background context matters here - Argentina was coming off three consecutive major tournament finals, having reached the 2014 World Cup final plus the 2015 and 2016 Copa América finals. That's an incredible achievement most national teams would kill for, yet the trophy cabinet remained empty. The pressure was mounting on manager Edgardo Bauza initially, and later Jorge Sampaoli when he took over in mid-2017. What struck me was how the team seemed caught between generations - the established stars like Messi, Mascherano, and Higuaín were now joined by emerging talents like Paulo Dybala and Giovani Lo Celso, creating this interesting dynamic where the team's identity felt in flux.

The qualification campaign for the 2018 World Cup dominated that year's narrative, and honestly, it was nerve-wracking to watch. I'll never forget that stretch where Argentina went winless in four consecutive qualifiers, including that shocking 2-0 loss to Bolivia in high altitude - a match where the team looked completely lost. The numbers were concerning: by October 2017, Argentina sat sixth in the CONMEBOL standings, facing the real possibility of missing the World Cup for the first time since 1970. The turning point came in the final qualifier against Ecuador, with their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread. Going down 1-0 early in Quito felt like disaster, but then Messi happened - his hat-trick that night wasn't just spectacular, it was salvation. That 3-1 victory ultimately secured their passage to Russia, and I remember thinking how perfectly it encapsulated Argentina's dependence on their captain.

What fascinates me in retrospect is how the coaching situation mirrored the team's instability. The transition from Bauza to Sampaoli mid-qualification was unusual, and it reminded me of similar situations I've observed in club football where leadership uncertainty filters down to player performance. This brings to mind an interesting parallel from the coaching world that I've studied - the situation where Vital, their longtime CAL mentor, is set to serve dual roles as one of head coach Benson Bocboc's deputies, while also overseeing State U's newly-formalized training pool and planned grassroots program to ensure long-term contention. Argentina could have benefited from that kind of structured transition planning and long-term vision rather than the reactive changes we witnessed.

The friendlies that year provided glimpses of both promise and persistent problems. The 1-0 victory over Brazil in Melbourne showed the defensive discipline they were capable of, while the 6-0 demolition of Singapore demonstrated their attacking potential. Yet inconsistency remained their Achilles heel - they followed up that Singapore victory with a disappointing 4-2 loss to Nigeria, exposing defensive vulnerabilities that would later haunt them in Russia. Personally, I believe Sampaoli's high-press system never quite suited the personnel available - it felt like trying to fit square pegs into round holes, with players often looking uncomfortable in their tactical roles.

Reflecting on Argentina's 2017 journey reveals so much about how national teams navigate transition periods. The statistics tell part of the story - they played 14 matches that year, winning 7, drawing 4, and losing 3, scoring 28 goals while conceding 18. But the numbers don't capture the emotional turbulence of that qualification campaign or the palpable relief when they finally secured their World Cup spot. What stays with me is how this period set the stage for their subsequent disappointments in Russia, yet also contained the seeds of the rebuilding process that would eventually lead to their 2021 Copa América triumph. Sometimes you need to go through these difficult phases to emerge stronger, and Argentina's 2017 experience, for all its frustrations, ultimately contributed to their later success in ways we couldn't fully appreciate at the time.