Messi, Argentina have legacy secure no matter what happens in World Cup final
NEW YORK — Lionel Messi is playing for fun. He will wear the captain’s armband and lead Argentina into the World Cup final against Spain on Sunday, June 19. He will give everything he has. If he loses, it will hurt because Messi is competitive like few players have been before him.
But his legacy? The way he is viewed in the world, and more importantly to him by the millions of soccer fans in his native country? It is secure, and he is secure in that knowledge.
Asked by an influencer after Argentina’s comeback win over England if it felt like his career was a video game in which he kept unlocking levels, Messi said, “I already finished it in the last World Cup. I finished it!”
The game is over. Messi beat it. Now, he’s doing another run to see if he can beat it again at age 39.
Sure, there are bonus levels to unlock. Diego Armando Maradona, whose soccer skills provoked literal religious devotion in Buenos Aires and beyond, “felt the weight of the Cup,” as he put it, just once. Messi could do it twice with a win over Spain on Sunday, helping Argentina become just the third team to defend a World Cup title and the first since Pele helped Brazil to titles in 1958 and 1962.
Yet, all the pressure, what Argentines termed “a backpack” pressing on his shoulders in which he carried his country’s hopes and dreams is off. Messi is able to play freely. Lose a lopsided game to Spain at MetLife Stadium in the final? The fact the team was able to get this far in its title defense is remarkable on its own. The country is in love with this team, with this generation of players.
Whatever happens Sunday, Messi is the greatest ever, Lionel Scaloni will go down as the best Argentina national team manager ever, and players such as Rodrigo De Paul, Nicolas Otamendi and Nicolás Tagliafico will forever be adored by association.
“He’s history. He’s a legend, with all this group of players who have taken us to some marvelous years. While you always have this idea that an Argentine player can do these things, getting them is very difficult. They’ve achieved things that were unthinkable for Argentina a few years back.” Scaloni said Friday in a news conference. “It wasn’t easy to get to this point.
“During so many years to compete at this level? I think it’s been something marvelous. We can win. Hopefully we win. If we lose the journey has been incredible, and I hope it can serve as an example for everyone, for our people, our country.”
Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the 2026 World Cup Group J football match between Jordan and Argentina at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington on June 27, 2026.
Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the 2026 World Cup Group J football match between Jordan and Argentina at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington on June 27, 2026.
Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi waves as he leaves the pitch after winning the 2026 World Cup Group J football match between Argentina and Austria at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington on June 22, 2026.
It’s quite a contrast from the image of Messi seen in the same building a decade ago.
It was then that a frustrated superstar claimed he was done with the national team. It wasn’t working out, after all. Defeats in the 2014 World Cup final to Germany, the 2015 Copa América final to Chile and in the 2016 Copa América Centenario final to Chile in New Jersey had beaten him down. He was retiring from the Argentina national team. Then, he was convinced to change his mind.
Argentina is glad he did. Now, the only thing fresh in the memory is Argentina wins.
The 2022 World Cup. The Copa América in 2024 and before that in 2021. The Finalissima in 2022 against European champions Italy.
“Messi, I don’t think I have to express what he is as a player and what he means for Argentina,” said Spain captain Rodri. “For me, he’s the best player of all time and a player who has been able to lead his national team and take it to win the World Cup in Qatar and now to the final.”
There is, of course, the possibility that Messi keeps going. This World Cup didn’t look likely. Now, he has scored eight goals and could be named best player of the tournament. His contract extension with Inter Miami takes him through the 2028 season. Argentina will host at least one match of the 2030 World Cup.
Could he make it to that tournament? “I don’t know. What do I know? I have no idea. I don’t know. I don’t know what to tell you,” said Scaloni, who insisted before the tournament that until he called Messi up for this World Cup roster that he wasn’t totally sure he would have the attacker at his disposal. “He never stops surprising.”
This might be his last act at the World Cup, starting as he leads the team onto the field where he ended frustrated a decade ago.
By now, fans are used to hearing the Argentina national anthem. Or rather, fans are used to hearing part of the Argentina national anthem.
When the Albiceleste surround the center circle to sing the song as part of the protocol ahead of the World Cup final it will be the eighth time they have done so at this World Cup. They did it seven times on the way to lifting the trophy in 2022.
But, while emotional, it is a truncated version of the Argentina national anthem.
The longer version of the hymn, with the words written by an Argentine politician and the melody written, perhaps shockingly, given Sunday’s opponent, by a native of Spain, includes an instrumental introduction. When games are played on home soil, fans sing along before getting to the words sung at international events, which conclude like this:
Coronados de gloria vivamos, o juremos con gloria morir.
“Let us live crowned in glory or we’ll swear to die with glory.”
When the team sings the anthem, this is the line that gets belted out hardest, and it’s not hard to see it translate to the soccer field. This team gives everything until the very end. It’s how it put three goals past Egypt in 21 minutes to advance from the round of 16. It’s how it turned a 1-0 deficit against England into a 2-1 win in the semifinals.
Messi already has the crown. He took the country to glory on the biggest stage before. He might be able to do it again, but when he decides to end his career and when he takes his final breath, he will do so as the most beloved son Argentina has produced – no matter who lifts the trophy Sunday.
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.