Argentina captain Lionel Messi said he is counting the days until the World Cup and believes his team has a good chance of winning.

Messi, who will be playing his fifth World Cup in Qatar, said he is in a positive mood ahead of the tournament.

Argentina will arrive in Qatar with its confidence high after winning the 2021 Copa America final against host nation Brazil, which Messi believes was a turning-point for his team after several near misses.

“In a World Cup, anything can happen,” Messi said. “All the matches are very tough. The favorites don’t always end up winning.

“I don’t know if we’re the favorites, but Argentina is always a candidate because of its history. Now even more so because of the moment we’re in, but we are not the favorites. I think there are other teams that are above us.”

The 35-year-old forward confirmed this would be his last World Cup, adding that he was in good shape physically after having a better preseason than last year, when he joined Paris Saint Germain from Barcelona.

Messi’s record with Argentina stands in stark contrast to his success at the club level.

Argentina came close to ending its long trophy drought on three occasions, but was beaten by Germany in the 2014 World Cup final and by Chile in the Copa America final in 2015 ad 2016.

“I have been playing with the national team for a long time now,” Messi said. “There have been spectacular moments, like in 2014, 2015 and 2016, but we didn’t win and were criticized for not being champions.

“We did everything right until the finals.” Messi said he was heading to Qatar with a positive outlook as the elder statesman in a team full of young talent that ended Argentina’s 28-year wait for an international trophy with the Copa America victory.

“It’s been very hard, but in 2019 a new group with many young people came and won the Copa America,” Messi said. “That helped us a lot.”

Messi made his international debut in 2005 and has since won 164 caps for Argentina and is the country’s all-time leading scorer with 90 goals.

The superstar, though, admitted he was nervous about the impending tournament.

“There is anxiety, nerves about the World Cup,” he said. “We can’t wait for it to start.”

Messi’s international debut as a substitute against Hungary in 2005 lasted just two minutes before he was sent off, but he quickly established himself in the national team setup and traveled to Germany for his first World Cup in 2006.

He went on to play in the 2010 edition in South Africa, 2014 in Brazil, where Argentina reached the final, and 2018 in Russia.

The current side, under the management of Lionel Scaloni, has gone 35 games without a loss.

“We have reached a good moment, with a very well-equipped and very strong group, but anything can happen,” said Messi.

Argentina will face the United Arab Emirates in its final warm-up match in November before playing Saudi Arabia in its opening game in the group stage at the World Cup on Nov. 22. Mexico and Poland are the other teams in Group C.

Messi has often struggled to emulate Argentine icon Diego Maradona on the biggest international stage, although was surprisingly named player of the tournament after his team lost the 2014 final to Germany.

He only scored once four years ago in Russia, as Argentina bowed out with a 4-3 defeat by eventual champion France in the last 16, following a humiliating 3-0 thumping by Croatia in the group stage.

But hopes are high that the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner can bow out from playing the World Cup with glory in the Middle East.

Qatar will likely provide the last chance for Messi and his long-time Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, to finally lift the World Cup.

“I am going to have to reassess a lot of things after the World Cup, whether it goes well for us or not,” Messi admitted in March.

“I hope it goes well, but a lot of things are definitely going to change.”