The two countries are synonymous with South American success - but on the club and international stage, the success of Argentinian and Brazilian football could not be further apart.
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00:00Historically, Argentina and Brazil are two of the most successful football nations in
00:06the world.
00:08Argentina are the current World Cup champions, while Brazil are the only team to have lifted
00:12the trophy on five occasions.
00:14But due to investment, politics and economics, Argentinian and Brazilian football have never
00:21looked more different at domestic and continental level.
00:25So what's behind the differing fortunes of South America's heavyweights?
00:54In the international game, Argentina are undisputedly the best nation team in the world, and are
01:00the current FIFA World Cup title holders, and have won the last two editions of the
01:05Copa America.
01:06Meanwhile, Brazil's FIFA ranking has dropped to fifth in the world, their lowest since
01:112016, and are currently fifth in the South American World Cup qualification table.
01:17However, in that time at domestic level, Brazilian clubs have won six Copa Libertadores tournaments,
01:23with Botafogo representing the South American confederation at the recent FIFA Intercontinental
01:29Cup in Qatar.
01:31And according to Opta, the official statistics provider, five Brazilian clubs are currently
01:36ranked within the top 100 in the world, with the best club from Argentina, River Plate,
01:41a lowly 123rd on this same list.
01:45So how have Brazil become so dominant domestically in South America, despite the national team
01:50struggles?
01:52On a domestic level, Brazilian teams are now welcoming investors from outside.
01:57Look at Botafogo with John Texter, who owns multiple clubs.
02:00He's broken the transfer record twice in this year, bringing in Thiago Armada and Luis Henrique
02:05from Atlanta United and Real Batiste, respectively, where Argentinian sides, they haven't completely
02:11opened their arms yet to this investment.
02:14Now this is why we're seeing such a huge gap, and this is why Brazilian teams are dominating
02:19the competition.
02:20They should be looking at Brazil and looking at how that league has advanced, and I can't
02:24see that changing until Argentinian sides and fans realise that they need investment,
02:30if they are, to keep up.
02:32While Brazil's league system is attracting big names and money, the majority of Argentina's
02:36clubs are still fan-owned, which means they're missing out on that much-needed cash injection.
02:42As well as this, the new-look league has removed the real threat of team relegation, meaning
02:46a certain competitive edge is missing.
02:49But I think this whole debate, it really shows how league football has uncoupled itself in
02:57a globalised age from national team football, because domestic Argentine football is in
03:03an absolute shambles.
03:04It's an absolute mess, and they've decided this year no-one's going to get relegated
03:08this year.
03:09They make these things up on the fly.
03:11It's really in a poor state, and yet Argentina are the world champions, and if you look at
03:18the squad that won the World Cup, I think there was only one player who was based in
03:22Argentina.
03:23There has never been this kind of one-nation domination of the tournament, and it's a real
03:28worry.
03:29It looks very hard to see how the rest of the continent can compete with Brazil.
03:33In contrast to the troubles in their domestic leagues, Argentina's international success
03:38continues unabated.
03:40Lionel Messi, though, will be 39 years old by the time the next World Cup comes around,
03:44so there's talk he won't make an appearance at the competition at all.
03:48One man doesn't make a team, but can Argentina's dominance on the international stage really
03:53continue without him?
03:55I think it's a great question.
03:56I honestly don't know.
03:58I mean, he said before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, this is it, this is my final chance.
04:03But the reality is what we've found is Messi is enjoying his time in Argentina finally.
04:08So I think he actually will go.
04:10I could see him going and winning it again, and if he wins it again, he's won two, which
04:14means he's won one more than Maradona, and he really is the greatest player of all time.
04:18There isn't going to be another player like him, and I think that to try and plan for
04:21after him, it's almost a bit silly, because it's like, enjoy what you've got.
04:25Like, what do they plan for?
04:26I don't know.
04:27So I think he's still stuck with great talent, but the idea that you'll find another Messi,
04:30it's just a myth.
04:31The story is so crazy at this point that it could get crazier, but it could also just
04:35drop off and be like, right, you had your moment, 2022 was it.
04:40While Messi's status as the most influential player of his generation continues to grow,
04:45Brazil's top talent struggle to put it all together on the big stage, despite them boasting
04:49some of the greatest forwards in the world, such as Neymar and Vinicius Junior.
04:54So what has been behind the recent downturn in results?
04:57It's a very difficult question, and there's a lot of layers to this.
05:02Vinicius Junior's wildly underperformed in a Brazilian shirt.
05:06He's openly admitted he struggled playing for Brazil with the pressure, like he said
05:10this shirt weighs heavy on him, and I'd say at the moment, there's just a lack of good
05:15Brazilian coaches, which is probably why we have seen the demise of Brazil at the moment.
05:20And let's not forget, Neymar's been out injured for the last 12 months, and I think a lot
05:24of people have realised now without Neymar, they have struggled and they do really need
05:28him.
05:29Maybe his value was a little bit underrated.
05:31There seems to be a divide between Brazilian fans and the team, because 99% of the team
05:36up until the last couple of months were based in Europe, and there's a lack of affiliation
05:40there.
05:41So, an interesting year ahead then.
05:42If you're a fan of South American football, do you prefer La Alba Celeste or La Sala Sao?
05:48Let us know using the hashtag FootballNowSouthAmerica.
05:51That's all we've got time for though here from the Albeit Stadium in Qatar.
05:55We'll see you next time.
05:56Bye for now.