Argentina are on the brink of being knocked out of the 2018 World Cup - and the knockout stages haven't even started yet.

It's been a woeful couple of weeks for Lionel Messi and co, who drew their opening game to Iceland 1-1 and then lost heavily against Croatia.

Not a single player has performed in Russia and now it all comes down to today's final set of games in Group D: Iceland vs Croatia and Nigeria vs Argentina.

In order to reach the last 16 Argentina need to beat Nigeria and then hope that Croatia - who are expected to play a weakened team - don't lose to Iceland.

It's a pretty dire situation to be in and one that no one expected from Argentina heading into the World Cup.

Argentina are widely regarded as one of international football's powerhouses and they possess some of the world's best players - especially going forward.

So what's happened to them? Well, there was once a time when the Argentines dominated Olympic football and were expected to translate that into major international tournaments.

Let's take a look at Argentina's 2008 Olympic gold winning team and where the starting XI from that game have ended up.

ARGENTINA'S STARTING XI VS NIGERIA, 2008

GK - SERGIO ROMERO

Currently at Manchester United (somehow), Sergio Romero remains Argentina's first-choice goalkeeper but he was ruled out of the World Cup due to a knee injury.

RB - PABLO ZABALETA

Pablo Zabaleta featured in all six of Argentina's Olympic games in Beijing and even though he hasn't retired from international football yet, it won't be long. Plays for West Ham.

CB - NICOLAS PAREJA

One of many in this XI who never reached his potential. Nicolas Pareja only ever won one senior cap for Argentina and he can now be found at Sevilla, aged 34.

CB - EZEQUIEL GARAY

Ezequial Garay's performances in Beijing earned him a move to Real Madrid that summer, but he failed to impress in three years a the Bernabeu and now plays for Valencia.

LB - LUCIANO MONZON

One of the lesser known names here, Luciano Monzon also earned a big(ish) move to Real Betis in 2008. Ten years later and he's at Universidad de Chile.

CM - FERNANDO GAGO

Fernando Gago spent five years at Real Madrid (one of which on loan at AS Roma) and one year at Valencia before returning home to Boca Juniors in 2013. He's now 32.

CM - JAVIER MASCHERANO

Javier Mascherano is Argentina's most capped player at 145 appearances (and counting). Since 2008 he's enjoyed much success at Liverpool, Barcelona and now Hebei China Fortune.

CAM - JUAN RIQUELME

Juan Riquelme - remember him? He captained Argentina to gold in 2008 but never really made it big on the domestic stage, retiring three years ago.

RW - LIONEL MESSI

Arguably the greatest player of all time, yet Lionel Messi has never tasted success with Argentina having reached the 2014 World Cup final and 2015/2016 Copa America finals but lost all three.

ST - SERGIO AGUERO

Sergio Aguero is a world-class striker and third in Argentina's all-time top goalscorer's list, but like Messi he's never won anything with his country. Still at Manchester City.

LW - ANGEL DI MARIA

Argentina's winner in the 2008 Olympics final was scored by Angel Di Maria and to this day he remains a top talent at Paris Saint-Germain. This team should have won some serious silverware.