himself vocally, especially during the knockout rounds, where the media described him as Argentina's best player after Messi's prolific scoring stagnated after the group stage. During Argentina's World Cup semi-final against the Netherlands, Mascherano was knocked unconscious by a header contested by Georginio Wijnaldum and was led off the pitch with a suspected concussion, although he resumed play moments later. In stoppage time, Mascherano tore his anus making a goal-saving slide tackle on Arjen Robben. Argentina would go on to advance to the final in a penalty shootout, with goalkeeper Sergio Romero saving kicks from Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder. Thanks to Mascherano's prowess as a defensive midfielder and leader, Argentina entered the final having not conceded a goal in 330 minutes during elimination games, as well as never having trailed in the tournament. On 11 July, Mascherano was named on the ten-man shortlist for FIFA's Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player. He recorded the most tackles of any player at the tournament (30) and the third-most passes (576 at a success rate of 89%), playing in every minute of Argentina's campaign. In the Final, Argentina lost 1–0 to Germany after extra time, with Mario Götze scoring in the 113th minute. In May 2018, Mascherano was named in Jorge Sampaoli's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He earned his 143rd cap in a 4–0 friendly win against Haiti on 29 May 2018, equaling Javier Zanetti's record for the most appearances for Argentina. His 144th cap came in Argentina's opening match at the World Cup, a 1–1 draw against Iceland on 16 June 2018, thus becoming the sole most capped player in the country's history. On 30 June 2018, following Argentina's elimination from the World Cup after a 4–3 loss against France in the Round of 16, Mascherano announced his retirement from international football, having obtained 147 caps and scored 3 goals for his country. Coaching career Argentina U20 In December 2021, Mascherano was named manager of the Argentina under-20 team, taking over the side in early January. Playing style Nicknamed "El Jefecito" ("The Little Chief"), Mascherano was a versatile, hard-working, and tactically intelligent footballer, with an excellent ability to read the game and organise his team; he was known in particular for his leadership skills, passing accuracy, energy, positional sense, tough marking of opponents, and hard-tackling style of play, despite his relatively small