"You are right, I am the one who makes the final decision. This defeat is my responsibility because I made the game plan," Sampaoli told journalists.

He added that his team failed to get the ball to Messi enough, while the mistake committed by Caballero, which led to Ante Rebic’s opening goal "threw Argentina off course" and they were never able to recover.

Argentina now only have one point from their first two games and have to beat Nigeria in their final group game in Volgograd on Friday to have any chance of making it to the round of 16.