HAVING a World Cup without Italy, the Netherlands and the United States in it is unusual enough. But no Argentina? The prospect of the two-time winners crashing out of the competition before the knockout stages is an unthinkable one for aficionados of the beautiful game everywhere.

In Lionel Messi they have arguably the greatest player of all-time while his team mates Sergio Aguero, Willy Caballero, Gonzalo Higuain, Javier Mascherano and Nicolas Otamendi, to name just a handful, are fairly useful too. Some knowledgeable observers fancy them to improve on their runners-up finish in Brazil four years ago at Russia 2018.

But if the South Americans, held to a 1-1 draw by Iceland in their opening Group D game on Saturday lose to Croatia, comfortable and deserved 2-0 winners over Nigeria in theirs, this afternoon then there is a very real possibility they will be heading home early.

Perform as they did in the Otkritie Arena in Moscow on Friday, when Messi had a weak second-half penalty saved, in the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium this evening and they can have no complaints about their fate or the savage criticism which is sure to come their way from their compatriots.

They have already been savaged for their initial showing. Diego Maradona, who almost single-handedly led Argentina to victory at Mexico ‘86, was present at the Iceland match and he was decidedly unimpressed by their tactics and display.

“It’s a disgrace,” he told Venzuelan television. “Not having prepared for the match knowing that Iceland are all 1.90m tall. I get the feeling there’s an anger at the heart of the team.”

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Manager Jorge Sampaoli appears set to ring major personnel changes and switch from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 3-4-3 set-up. Boca Juniors winger Cristian Pavon appears set to start his first competi-tive game while Gabriel Mercado and Marcos Acuna may also earn recalls.

Croatia, however, are not without their problems. Manager Zlatko Dalic has con-firmed that striker Nikola Kalinic has been sent home after refusing to come on against Nigeria even though the AC Milan player, who has scored 15 goals in 41 appearances for his country, claimed he had a back problem.

“Kalinic was warming up and was supposed to come on in the second half,” said Dalic. “However, he then stated that he wasn’t ready to come on due to a back issue. The same thing happened during the Brazil friendly in England, as well as be-fore the practice session on Sunday.

“I have calmly accepted that, and since I need my players fit and ready to play, I have made this decision.”

Luca Modric, the Real Madrid midfielder and Croatia captain, is undeterred. He believes the Nigeria result in the Kaliningrad Stadium at the weekend has given his side “wings” and is optimistic they can build upon it.

“We were just focused on our game and it was an important win which will boost our confidence for the forthcoming matches,” he said. “This will lift us to continue our journey. I believe that on the wings of this win we will up our game and continue our journey in the way that we planned before coming here.

“Argentina is going to be a very difficult match against maybe the favourites in the group. But this win will boost our confidence and as we go along, we will raise our game - but to get three points against them will be tough.”

Croatia coach Dalic doesn’t underestimate the challenge now ahead of his side given the predicament their opponents will be in if they lose or even draw the game.

“Argentina will be a different and difficult match and we have to be well prepared,” he said at a press conference, broadcast via FIFA TV on YouTube. “Three more points would help us to progress and Argentina could be on their way home, but we have to focus on ourselves.”

If Croatia do prevail against Argentina it could bring a sad end to Messi’s international career.