Diego Maradona has criticised Argentina's dismal showing at the World Cup so far and hopes that the players had a "punch-up" in the locker room after the 3-0 loss to Croatia.

The Albiceleste laboured to a 1-1 draw against tournament debutants Iceland in their opening game before being demolished by the Vatreni in Nizhny Novgorod.

In a fiery interview with Telesur, Maradona tore into numerous elements within the Argentina camp, including coach Jorge Sampaoli and goalkeeper Willy Caballero, though Lionel Messi was given an easier ride.

"I have this anger inside that defies definition," said the 1986 World Cup winner. "First of all, I blame the president of the federation, Claudio Tapia. There are people in charge who don't know anything about football and they left Argentina stranded.

"Everyone thought Sampaoli would resolve the problems with his computers, drones, 14 assistants and 25 sparring partners... Instead Argentina don't know how to play football and have no options for any area of the field. They don't create chances, don't win tackles, never have the ball under control.

"[Messi] didn't play the way he could've done, but his teammates never passed him the ball and it's difficult to resolve everything by yourself... [Caballero's mistake] was a disaster on the world stage. That too is also the fault of the coach, who picks someone who never plays at club level, keeping out [Franco] Armani after a great season.

"We are the problem, not our opponents. I'd love to know if there was a punch-up in the locker room or not. If it didn't happen, it's because they don't have the cojones. If someone needed to put an ice-pack on their face afterwards, that's all good."

Argentina are third in Group D and take on Nigeria in their final round-robin game.