The perfect football fairytale is on the edge of completion: Everyone’s favourite Lionel Messi returning, in what will be his last World Cup match, to complete what was left unfinished in the 2014 final, and the 2018 Round of 16. Should it be France lining up, the chilling cliche of revenge can be revised to best-served-old. Just like 1986 became known as Diego Maradona’s World Cup, the 2022 edition is primed to become synonymous with Messi. Only Morocco going all the way might appeal a touch more to the drama’s audience. For now, not a soul can shake off the imminence of the global joy and sense of completion that a Messi World Cup victory would bring.
For Messi, with redemptive rage gleaming in his eyes and unmatchable talent, has stamped his right to be a World Cup winner on this Qatar edition. The last fortnight has been replete with the “Aha” moments that mould Messi into a messiah. His goals are relegated to secondary status as compared to his magical passes — the redeemer’s halo is in sharp relief while the goal scorer’s visage a mere blur. The two passes for Molina and Alvarez elevate Messi’s team-man credentials to a new high. Ronaldo’s utility as the perfect antagonist — one who doesn’t inspire trust, doesn’t start, doesn’t pass, doesn’t score — is stitched perfectly into this script.
But Messi never needed a Ronaldo to be placed on the highest GOAT pedestal. His blazing talent coupled with fierce ambition, a national coach and team finally drumming up the perfect symphony, and his own realisation of a last chance, has meant that 2022 was poised for this grand moment. Messi choosing to drop back to do for his teammates what Iniesta and Xavi did for him, Messi replicating his Barcelona, PSG tango alongside Neymar, Suarez, Mbappe, was bound to riff off on Argentina eventually. Messi never needed the World Cup to underline his greatness; this World Cup and football, though, need Messi to grace the winner’s podium.
