Last year, when Lionel Messi Asked about his participation He objected to the 2026 World Cup: “Because of my age, the most logical thing is that I will not be able to attend.” The greatest player of all time seemed to have ended his career in international football with Argentina’s 3-0 qualifying win over Venezuela. It also dashed the hopes of those who were hoping to see him suit up for the final Copa Mundial and also produced a memorable quote for the ages (Messi was suddenly paired with someone). Young people growing older with earlier bedtimes). But after booking a return trip to the World Cup finals this week, Messi has made us all feel foolish for imagining La Selecao without him.
really messi Not there. It is important to be here. After finally winning his first World Cup in 2022, what could be a better global farewell for the greatest footballer of all time? Everything else—the trophies he won during his MLS run with Inter Miami; The Copa America victory in 2024, which he lost due to a serious injury—postscript, bonus, stoppage time. Anything could have happened, but the clock was running out.
So when Messi was announced for Argentina’s World Cup roster in late May – just days after another injury scare – expectations were appropriately adjusted. He remained on the bench for the pre-tournament friendly against Honduras and scored a penalty kick in the second match against Iceland. It was supposed to be World Cup dessert, a pleasant way to bid farewell to the GOAT without reliving his previous runs. Any fan of the game would do anything to see Lionel Messi on the World Cup pitch in stoppage time, just to wave to the crowd in Argentina kit for the last time. But what we have seen in this tournament has not felt like a retirement tour.
During this tournament, Messi turned 39, an age that is considered well past the athletic prime for most elite players. Even LeBron James, one of Father Time’s biggest rivals at 41, dropped to third in the pecking order during his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers. Unlike James, Messi is still the cornerstone of the Argentina team playing in this Sunday’s final. In this tournament, he passed the ball to the keeper or provided a vital assist to one of his teammates at least once in every match he played.
He scored the first World Cup hat-trick of his career with three spectacular goals against Algeria in the tournament opener and scored two more goals in his second match against Austria. Before Sunday’s final he has scored eight goals throughout the tournament, the most of any player along with Kylian Mbappe. But even impressive statistics don’t fully convey the sense of calm with which La Albiceleste plays when he is on the pitch and the way teammates like Enzo Fernandez and Rodrigo De Paul make it seem as if they would die for Messi if that’s what the game demands (which, thankfully, it doesn’t). And unlike fellow competitors whose careers depend on the outcome of the 2026 tournament, Messi is playing free of the burden of expectation.
Throughout the tournament, every game Messi has played, it has depended on him for both sides on the field. When it’s time to win the game, Argentina’s attack slows down to allow the ball to reach Messi and allow him to create magic. This is even more evident in the way he uses his immense gravity to manipulate multiple defenders at once who react like schools of fish to sharks. Take the first goal against England from Enzo Fernandez’s laser. Messi danced for a long time on the right wing and started jaws He fired over the heads of three different defenders as he approached the box to free up space for his teammate to fire the ball into the back of the net. Unlike other favorites past and present such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Erling Haaland, he does not rely on set kicks or set-ups to score goals, nor is he a selfish stat-padder. Messi is both conductor and instrumentalist in the orchestra.
