Argentina were popular winners of the 2022 World Cup - mainly for the star man at the centre of it all, Lionel Messi.
The 35-year-old finally added a World Cup title to his collection, on what will likely turn out to be the final outing at the tournament for the PSG star.
The Argentina team, however, faced criticism for how they conducted themselves during the tournament.
Shithousery was the name of the game for the Argentineans, as they defeated both the Netherlands and France on penalties on their way to World Cup glory. Goalkeeper Emi Martinez faced criticism from French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for his shootout antics in the final, while some of the celebrations at home took a nasty turn against French star Kylian Mbappé.
41-year-old AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the latest to speak out against the Argentinean antics at the World Cup - and he appears to have started a war of words with former Manchester City and Argentina man Sergio Aguero.
Aguero v Zlatan: Legendary strikers clash in Argentina feud
The quality of Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a player is such that it is hard to believe he only ever played in two World Cups throughout his career, in 2002 and 2006. Sweden's failure to qualify for the 2022 tournament brought an end to Zlatan's wish to compete at the biggest tournament one last time.
He appears to have kept a close eye on proceedings in Qatar, however, judging by an interview with French radio station France Inter.
Ibrahimovic was asked to comment on his former teammate at Barcelona, Lionel Messi, and his achievement in winning the World Cup at last. Zlatan praised Messi as the greatest player of all time, but slammed Argentina's antics throughout the tournament:
Messi has won everything and he will be remembered. The rest [of the Argentina squad] who behaved badly, we can't respect that.
This is coming from me, speaking as a top professional player, that is a sign that you will win once, but you won't win again. You don't win like that.
Ibrahimovic's comments are strong, but he is not the first to criticise the "bad behaviour" of the Argentina squad at the World Cup.
One particular flashpoint saw Leandro Paredes fire the ball at the Netherlands bench during a tense quarter-final, before the Argentina team goaded the Dutch after progressing on penalties.
🇳🇱 1-2 🇦🇷
Yellow for Leandro Paredes after this
📺 Watch live now on @RTE2 and @RTEplayer: https://t.co/2a31t0nJdX
📱 Live updates: https://t.co/WYLR1TyMV2#FifaWorldCup #NEDARG #rtsoccer pic.twitter.com/gDJMkBgaDh— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) December 9, 2022
One man who could not be on the pitch for Argentina during the World Cup, but who was ever present behind the scenes, was Sergio Aguero.
The Premier League legend was forced to retire from football due to a heart condition in late 2021, mere months after signing for Barcelona.
Argentina had Aguero travel to Qatar and stay with the team throughout the tournament, after he scored crucial goals for them in the previous three editions of the tournament.
Clearly taking Zlatan's comments to heart, Aguero has now publicly responded. Aguero slammed the Swede's comments, before taking a jab at his absence from the tournament in Qatar.
Aguero made the comments on his Twitch stream, and some cross the line between petulance and genuine distastefulness:
To say that they behaved badly - you are the last one who can say that. It seems like bad blood to say that we are not going to win more.
I think that before worrying about Argentina, you could worry about your own country, about your own players, who were not even in the last World Cup.
You are a fighter. I remember you had a fight with Otamendi in a game between City and United. You argued with Pep Guardiola. I imagine that's why he wanted to sell you from Barcelona.
I suppose that to talk about how Argentina behaved badly, you first have to look at your career to see if you behaved well. And I don't think you behaved well.
Did I kill Zlatan? He killed my teammates. He is more, able that you also talk to me because I was there.
We are world champions Zlatan, and you want to kill yourself.
A quite extraordinary rant from Aguero, and one which goes far beyond the general criticism of Argentina by Zlatan.
Zlatan is no stranger to public feuds or being the centre of attention, but the comments from Aguero are among the harsher ones we've ever seen in a spat of this nature.
SEE ALSO: Changes To UEFA Nations League Format Could Be Good News For Ireland
