Doha, Qatar: Four years ago, Lionel Messi led Argentina to glory in Qatar at the FIFA World Cup, and he is one step away from repeating that feat and making Argentina the first team to retain the trophy since Brazil in 1962.
On Wednesday night, under the lights of Atlanta, the Messi Magic was unleashed when the Argentine legend sparked a magnificent late comeback against England to deny Thomas Tuchel’s men their first World Cup final berth since 1996.
Argentina were trailing England until the 85th minute, before Messi, aged 39, decided he wasn’t done yet. He didn’t need to score to win the game, but just needed to create two chances out of nothing. Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez converted the chances created by Messi into goals to turn a 0-1 scoreline into a 2-1 win that sent Argentina to Sunday’s final.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner now has same number of goals in front of his name at the North American World Cup, and has made four assists, climbing to the top of the race for the Golden Boot.
Messi hailed his teammates after Wednesday’s win, saying: “What the group has been doing is incredible, and this, of course, is again something that shows our character, our grit, our collective, the way that we play together.”
“It was really, truly amazing.”
His coach Lionel Scaloni was also elated with the win.
“The other day I said this group never stops surprising me,” Lionel Scaloni said afterward, referring to a similar comeback win by his men who came back from two goals down to beat Egypt in the last 16.
Without surprise, Messi was at the heart of that rescue act too.
Waiting for Argentina at the iconic New Jersey Stadium will be Spain, who dismantled one of the pre-tournament favourites France with a 2-0 win on Tuesday.
“And I’ll tell you the truth, we’re going to try to win, we’re going to leave everything out there. It’s incredible. We are unique, truly, and it’s not arrogance, it’s from the heart,” Scaloni said.
Messi echoed Scaloni’s sentiments, saying he was looking forward to facing Spain in the final, where he will face the country where he spent most of his career, at Barcelona.
He said Spain, who beat France 2-0 to reach the final, were “a fantastic side, wonderful players”.
“They play very, very well. I know them quite well. Their whole idea and philosophy has been very well developed throughout this time, and I know the players as well,” Messi said.
The reigning world champions and the European champions were set to meet at the Finalissima, which was originally slated to be hosted at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar in March. The showdown was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, but the two sides will now face each other on a bigger stage, in a fitting finale to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
