It seldom ends happily, even for the greatest footballers.
Yet Lionel Messi came desperately close to destroying all the clichés about age and the beautiful game’s aversion to sentimentality.
At 39, the Inter Miami star has carried this Argentina team to the World Cup final.
Even after 120 gruelling minutes of play, plus an extortionate 27-minute half-time show, the greatest player to ever grace the game was still expending every last ounce of energy to drive his side forward and dictate play amid what appeared to be a lost cause.
And if Giuliano Simeone had been more accurate with his finish, or Pau Cubarsí had deflected a cross inside rather than just outside the post, then Messi might just have had his fairytale finish and second successive World Cup triumph.
But an anti-climax was in keeping with an underwhelming final hardly befitting of the former Barcelona star’s greatness.
Throughout this tournament, Messi has produced extraordinary moments.
But against Spain, the Argentine captain was finally made to look his age.
For the most part, he could not wield his influence against an indomitable Spain team.
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There was a lethargy and a tiredness in his display that characterised the inert Argentine team in general.
Playing eight games over the course of a little more than a month is unforgiving, especially for a veteran who has made over 1,000 appearances at senior level over the course of his career.
It was Argentina’s third match of the tournament to go to extra time, and Spain’s first.
Luis de la Fuente’s men have a much younger average age than their opponents (including two teenagers: Pau Curbasi and Lamine Yamal), while they also had an extra day to recover from their semi-final.
Argentina’s path to the final was scarcely believable. Every knockout match before the climax – Cape Verde, Egypt, Switzerland and England – was fraught with tension, an unending emotional rollercoaster.
By contrast, there was an inevitability about Spain’s victories. La Roja only conceded one goal at the tournament and were never trailing.
They brushed aside Austria 3-0 in the round of 32, while the victories over Portugal and Belgium were not as close or painstaking as the one-goal winning margins suggested.
Even the tournament favourites, France, were dispatched coolly and dispassionately.
La Roja were the antithesis of the Argentina side, replete with a peripheral superstar (a half-fit Yamal) rather than one the entire team revolved around and relied on to stay alive time and again.
In musical terms, Argentina were a singer-songwriter – Spain were an orchestra.
And by the end of the contest, Lionel Scaloni’s side were verging on self-parody.
The emotional toll of so many dramatic, late victories was palpable.
Many of their most influential players – Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Rodrigo De Paul, Julián Álvarez – departed the action either through injury or sheer exhaustion.
The main idea they had, ostensibly, was to stop Spain with tactical fouls and pray the referee did not issue many yellow cards. A penalty shootout triumph felt like the only conceivable way Scaloni’s men could win.
They have always been a limited side in thrall to Messi, but so few teams have neutralised their main man as successfully as Spain managed, primarily by pushing up the pitch, controlling possession and keeping the ball away from the danger man.
The dismissal of Enzo Fernández, one of the squad’s most energetic and younger players at 25, felt like a death knell for Argentine hopes of success.
The reigning South American champions, who had been so resilient and formidable for much of this tournament, exited with a whimper – zero shots on target (compared to 12 for the Spanish), 34% possession and a 0.22 xG.
At times, the match resembled an FA Cup tie – a Premier League side toiling away, trying to break down game-but-less-talented lower-league opposition.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
There is a memorable image (see above) of Messi being dragged to his feet by members of the Argentine coaching staff before the start of extra time, as if trying to extract one last miracle when confronted with their most perilous predicament yet.
But the well had finally run dry.
The eight-time Ballon D’Or winner’s last touch in the game (and perhaps in international football) was a desperate, hopeful punt upfield that Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón easily gathered, a microcosm of Argentine ineptitude.
Messi has yet to confirm if or when he is retiring from international football.
But he will be 43 years old by the time of the next World Cup final – for context, at this tournament, 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo looked a pale imitation of the world-class player people once knew.
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The Rosario native has already become the oldest player to feature in a World Cup final and only the second footballer (after Brazil legend Cafu) to appear at the tournament’s last game three times.
For all genuine football fans, there is a sadness in knowing that we have surely seen the last of Messi at the highest level.
Next month will be the 21st anniversary of his senior debut for Argentina.
So for 21 years, sports fans have had the pleasure of watching the little genius perpetually torment high-level opposition defenders.
People of a certain generation will have grown up watching Messi.
That’s why, amid the Spanish euphoria, there was a sense of melancholy too associated with the conclusion of Sunday’s final.
Messi’s tears at the end were a reminder of his and our own mortality.
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Is this the end for Lionel Messi?
SPORT AT THE elite level is brutal.
It seldom ends happily, even for the greatest footballers.
Yet Lionel Messi came desperately close to destroying all the clichés about age and the beautiful game’s aversion to sentimentality.
At 39, the Inter Miami star has carried this Argentina team to the World Cup final.
Even after 120 gruelling minutes of play, plus an extortionate 27-minute half-time show, the greatest player to ever grace the game was still expending every last ounce of energy to drive his side forward and dictate play amid what appeared to be a lost cause.
And if Giuliano Simeone had been more accurate with his finish, or Pau Cubarsí had deflected a cross inside rather than just outside the post, then Messi might just have had his fairytale finish and second successive World Cup triumph.
But an anti-climax was in keeping with an underwhelming final hardly befitting of the former Barcelona star’s greatness.
Throughout this tournament, Messi has produced extraordinary moments.
But against Spain, the Argentine captain was finally made to look his age.
For the most part, he could not wield his influence against an indomitable Spain team.
There was a lethargy and a tiredness in his display that characterised the inert Argentine team in general.
Playing eight games over the course of a little more than a month is unforgiving, especially for a veteran who has made over 1,000 appearances at senior level over the course of his career.
It was Argentina’s third match of the tournament to go to extra time, and Spain’s first.
Luis de la Fuente’s men have a much younger average age than their opponents (including two teenagers: Pau Curbasi and Lamine Yamal), while they also had an extra day to recover from their semi-final.
Argentina’s path to the final was scarcely believable. Every knockout match before the climax – Cape Verde, Egypt, Switzerland and England – was fraught with tension, an unending emotional rollercoaster.
By contrast, there was an inevitability about Spain’s victories. La Roja only conceded one goal at the tournament and were never trailing.
They brushed aside Austria 3-0 in the round of 32, while the victories over Portugal and Belgium were not as close or painstaking as the one-goal winning margins suggested.
Even the tournament favourites, France, were dispatched coolly and dispassionately.
La Roja were the antithesis of the Argentina side, replete with a peripheral superstar (a half-fit Yamal) rather than one the entire team revolved around and relied on to stay alive time and again.
In musical terms, Argentina were a singer-songwriter – Spain were an orchestra.
And by the end of the contest, Lionel Scaloni’s side were verging on self-parody.
The emotional toll of so many dramatic, late victories was palpable.
Many of their most influential players – Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Rodrigo De Paul, Julián Álvarez – departed the action either through injury or sheer exhaustion.
The main idea they had, ostensibly, was to stop Spain with tactical fouls and pray the referee did not issue many yellow cards. A penalty shootout triumph felt like the only conceivable way Scaloni’s men could win.
They have always been a limited side in thrall to Messi, but so few teams have neutralised their main man as successfully as Spain managed, primarily by pushing up the pitch, controlling possession and keeping the ball away from the danger man.
The dismissal of Enzo Fernández, one of the squad’s most energetic and younger players at 25, felt like a death knell for Argentine hopes of success.
The reigning South American champions, who had been so resilient and formidable for much of this tournament, exited with a whimper – zero shots on target (compared to 12 for the Spanish), 34% possession and a 0.22 xG.
At times, the match resembled an FA Cup tie – a Premier League side toiling away, trying to break down game-but-less-talented lower-league opposition.
There is a memorable image (see above) of Messi being dragged to his feet by members of the Argentine coaching staff before the start of extra time, as if trying to extract one last miracle when confronted with their most perilous predicament yet.
But the well had finally run dry.
The eight-time Ballon D’Or winner’s last touch in the game (and perhaps in international football) was a desperate, hopeful punt upfield that Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón easily gathered, a microcosm of Argentine ineptitude.
Messi has yet to confirm if or when he is retiring from international football.
But he will be 43 years old by the time of the next World Cup final – for context, at this tournament, 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo looked a pale imitation of the world-class player people once knew.
The Rosario native has already become the oldest player to feature in a World Cup final and only the second footballer (after Brazil legend Cafu) to appear at the tournament’s last game three times.
For all genuine football fans, there is a sadness in knowing that we have surely seen the last of Messi at the highest level.
Next month will be the 21st anniversary of his senior debut for Argentina.
So for 21 years, sports fans have had the pleasure of watching the little genius perpetually torment high-level opposition defenders.
People of a certain generation will have grown up watching Messi.
That’s why, amid the Spanish euphoria, there was a sense of melancholy too associated with the conclusion of Sunday’s final.
Messi’s tears at the end were a reminder of his and our own mortality.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
2026 world cup Comment Legend Lionel Messi Soccer Argentina Spain