The Maradona dilemma: Only on the rarest of occasions does fan passion for a club player interfere with World Cup nationalism. But the dilemma unfolded before my very eyes and ears when host nation Italy was pitted against Argentina in the 1990 semifinal by chance set in Naples. At the time, Diego Armando Maradona was the Naples club team’s hero and savior. He had guided Napoli to an Italian league title and dwelled in the realm of the superstitious city’s saints. So when Italy took on interloper Argentina in a stadium that would later be named for Maradona, fans were muted, unable to decide whether to cheer their favored son or their favorite nation — an atmosphere unlike any I’ve ever witnessed. Argentina defeated Italy only to lose to West Germany in the title game played in Rome. And after the cup, Maradona returned to perform his magic for Napoli. What about this year? My intuition tells me Argentina will not repeat. Lionel Messi, who caught lightning in a bottle in 2022, won’t do it again. So who then? Look to Spain and France, classy sides both. Or to England, desperate to repeat 1966. Africa Cup finalists Senegal and Morocco are both tough, but lack seasoning. Croatia has been consistently fierce for a decade. Also in my mix are co-host Mexico, Germany, and Portugal, as well as upstarts Switzerland and Norway. Too many are the outliers to count, the group-stage scramble perhaps the cup’s most engaging phase. At least unlike 1990, there will be no Maradona dilemma. So let the madness begin.