6 min readJul 18, 2026 07:46 AM IST
First published on: Jul 18, 2026 at 07:46 AM IST
A cold chilling stare, lips tightly pursed and a slow shake of the head. That was all Messi did after a long and animated argument with England star Jude Bellingham over a foul in the closing moments of the first half, deep into stoppage time. Those who know, know – this was an early sign of a storm about to strike a football field. This time it was at Atlanta, and it would take almost until the very end of the night for that storm to break.
England didn’t lose because of Bellingham winding up Messi but he was guilty of misjudging the depth of the still and silent water he had blindly walked into.
Bellingham is 23 but his captain Harry Kane has been around long enough. He is better at reading games and faces of his rivals and the game’s greats. And he played the game hard, trying his best to tackle Messi but never got personal.
Anthony Gordon put England 1-0 up early in the second half, and for the best part of half an hour, that lead held. But Messi’s fury didn’t calm down. It simmered, and when Argentina finally broke through, it broke through twice. His two assists – for Enzo Fernandez’s 86th-minute equaliser and Lautaro Martinez’s stoppage-time winner – turned a famous England lead into a 2-1 defeat and sent Argentina into the World Cup final. In the magical world where Messi lives, he can win a game without scoring goals and also convey a very stern message without uttering a word.
This isn’t the reaction of a veteran slowly running out of patience when faced with the audacity and petulance of the young he faces on field. Messi has always been like this.
As a 14 year old, as a wonderkid at Barcelona’s La Masia academy, Messi played a game against Espanyol. Till date he remembers a brutal tackle by a defender who couldn’t keep up with him – but not his name. For most of the game, Little Messi would dodge past him, making him look ordinary. Frustration would get the better of the Espanyol player and he would lash out at Messi.
The Barcelona prodigy would be down on the turf with his cheekbone seriously injured. There are no videos or reports to suggest that Messi gave a blank stare and slow head shake that day. But the rest of the story does prove that like against England the other day, Messi does get triggered when confronted, roughed up or taken lightly.
Bellingham, left, and Messi collide during the World Cup semifinal match between England and Argentina in Atlanta. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
That day, Messi was taken off the field and the doctors told him that he would be out of action for 15 days. But with Barcelona set to play Espanyol the next week, the boy with revenge on his mind didn’t want to sit out. A persistent Messi would convince the coach to keep him in the side. “I will play with a face mask.” – was his argument. The game would assume mythical status in the years to come. In the Making of Messi story it would be called El Partido de la Mascara (The Game of the Mask).
In the frenzy of getting back at the defender who had taken him down in the previous game, Messi would rip off the mask and throw it away. The coach would substitute him at half-time but not before he had enhanced his reputation as a goal-scorer and as someone who can’t be pushed around or spoken to in an aggressive tone like Bellingham did in the World Cup semi-final. That day, in barely 45 minutes on the field, Messi scored a couple and had a hand in another. The team won 4-1.
In years to come, Messi, whose match face always has a tranquil calm, on some days would rip off the mask. When he first got picked for Argentina, he was a rookie among the stars and seniors. Everyone had a reputation and a matching ego. Among the seniors was the celebrated defender Gabriel Heinze, a veteran with an experience of playing most top clubs in Europe. Messi once nutmegged him during training, playing the ball skillfully between his legs and making him look like an amateur. Heinze didn’t like it, he started going hard at a young Messi.
There is an interesting line on the incident in an article on Messi in The Times. “Squad members recall that Messi said nothing, brooked no complaint, he just flashed Heinze a warning look as if to say: “Don’t do that again.” Go back to the semi-final spat with Bellingham and try to read the look on Messi’s face. It clearly says: “Now, you’ve had it.”
There is a famous book called Messi v Ronaldo, it chronicles the contrast between the two all time greats. It says how Ronaldo was protected at Manchester United and that was not the case with Messi at Barcelona. Sir Alex Ferguson stored him in cotton wool, asked the rest of the team to be careful in tackling him, there was no such worry at Camp Nou. “Anyone foolish enough to go in too hard on Messi instantly became the focus of his revenge. He would unleash his bag of tricks with the sole purpose of embarrassing that person.”
After his angry exchange with Bellingham, Messi embarrassed the English team.
There is an iconic line in the Clint Eastwood starring old Western classic The Good, The Bad The Ugly that professional sportsmen should write and recite before games. Tuco (Ugly) played by Eli Wallach tells the bounty hunter, “When you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk”, It is a creed Good Bellingham would do well to live by.
England didn't lose because of Bellingham winding up Messi but he was guilty of misjudging the depth of the still water he had blindly walked into. (AP Photo) 
Bellingham, left, and Messi collide during the World Cup semifinal match between England and Argentina in Atlanta. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
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