According to Adlene Guedioura, Lionel Messi does not require a World Cup victory to establish his legacy.
Messi, a seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, has eight league championships and four Champions League trophies to his name.
Messi hasn’t had much luck with Argentina’s international teams, though he did win the Copa America last year after three previous runners-up finishes.
Messi came very close to winning the World Cup in 2014, but Mario Gotze’s extra-time winner ended up being La Albiceleste’s final heartbreak.
Some have claimed that the 35-year-failure old’s to win international football’s greatest honor will damage his legacy in comparison to players like Pele and compatriot Diego Maradona.
Messi may have one more chance to win the World Cup at the current tournament in Qatar, where his Argentina team will play the Netherlands in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Guedioura is of the opinion that Messi’s legacy will not be damaged even if Argentina fails in their quest to win a third World Cup in Qatar.
Asked if he feels the potential gap in Messi’s trophy cabinet will impact how he is remembered, the former Algeria midfielder told Stats Perform: “Not at all. We’ve enjoyed him for such a long time with [Cristiano] Ronaldo.
“I think, of course, a title with Argentina will put him on the top of everything. But watching him in Barcelona and with Paris Saint-Germain is something special.”
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Argentina came into the tournament on a run of 36 matches unbeaten, but that streak came to a stunning end when they were beaten 2-1 by Saudi Arabia in their World Cup opener.
La Albiceleste have steadied the ship, though, finishing top of Group C and beating Australia in the round of 16 to set up the meeting with the Netherlands.
Despite Argentina’s improvement, Guedioura highlighted rivals Brazil as the team more likely to take the trophy back to South America, explaining: “Argentina started poorly with Saudi Arabia.
“Maybe, it was a little accident or a little warning for them. But compared to Brazil, I feel Brazil they are stronger than Argentina.”
Guedioura played for Algeria at the 2010 World Cup, and though his nation failed to qualify this year, fellow African sides Senegal and Morocco made it to the knockout stages, with the latter set to face Portugal in the last eight.
The Al-Duhail midfielder thinks African nations pull together at tournaments in a way that is not replicated across other regions of the world. “This is maybe a difference when you have England or Scotland,” he observed.
“When Scotland is not qualified, it’s like they don’t want England to do well. For us, I don’t think it’s like this. Any team that does well, all of Africa support them because they are the hope for the country and for the continent really.”