5 min readMexico CityJun 17, 2026 12:56 AM IST
First published on: Jun 16, 2026 at 08:00 AM IST
The pull is irresistible; to win it, to win it again. If Lionel Messi had not lifted the World Cup in Qatar, he would have been just another celebrity guest in the corporate box. But success, unlike failure, lures into reliving the glorious yesterday once more, to kiss the bulbous crown again, to be ferried on the shoulders of his teammates again, or to cry so innocently again. Messi cannot leave his yesterdays behind, and so he is in the US to achieve a rare feat last achieved by Pele and friends in 1962.
Maybe, this is how he has planned his legacy. He has matched Diego Maradona, his idol and still the most loved footballer in his country, in winning the World Cup. Now, Messi wants to match Messi himself, composing a tribute act to himself. He could spoil the perfect ending that Qatar had bestowed on him, he could turn out to be a parody of himself. He will turn 39 during the tournament. But Messi is not delusional that he just needs to turn up and the goals and assists would automatically arrive, or that he is in his peak physical shape.
All he knows is one truth; that there is still fire raging within him, as powerfully as it was with his five previous participations; that even with the prowess of the muscle fading, he has the wits, the knowhow and belief that he could win games. The feet are as silken as always; the eyes are as sharp and the spirit impenetrable.
Still sharp
Those that smirk about his match-readiness after playing in a league of inferior quality shouldn’t ignore his contributions with Argentina in the qualification passage as well as the COPA in 2024. Messi fired eight goals in the qualifying campaign, which the defending champions topped, winning 12 out of 18 matches and only losing four. He created three more. He has stacked a dozen goals and seven assists in 14 MLS games this season.
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At this stage of his career, it is not where he plays, but how he does. He might not last the physical rigours of a full season in Europe, but can indisputably light up a tournament that needs sporadic bursts of inventiveness rather than sustained aggression. He could be slower than he was in Qatar, but he possesses the vision and intuition to see paths, angles and moves that others don’t see. The men around him have to run harder, cover his spaces and mask his non-existent pressing.
In his latter years, Messi has been more Xavi, his Barca soulmate than himself, capturing the wondrous dexterity. (Reuters)
All of these they do without complaints, or as a painful duty, but like repaying the debt to the inspiration he has been to them. Julian Alvarez, his forward colleague, had a picture of Messi beside Mother Mary; Lautaro Martinez has an autograph of Messi that he still preserves. Enzo Fernandez was a sprightly teenager when his idol announced his retirement after a doomed COPA tussle in 2016. He then posted an emotional message on his Facebook wall. “How are we, a bunch of nobodies who don’t live with 1% of the pressure you do, 40 million people making ridiculous demands of perfection when we don’t even know you, going to try to convince you? Do what you want but think about staying and enjoying it.”
Perhaps, it helped Messi that most of his colleagues in Qatar were from a younger generation that didn’t share the collective angst of losing the 2014 final; men that looked up to him and would resort to the extremes to make him happy. Messi, too, felt more comfortable manning them rather than those of similar vintage.
Whatever the outcome of the World Cup, another enthralling chapter in Messi’s life is writing itself. The role would be much the same as it had been in Qatar, lurking in the shadows and pouncing at the ripest moment, producing trickery that no one imagines. His mere shadow would inspire his troops.
More Xavi
Manager Lionel Scaloni has tuned the team’s game to ensure that no one is overburdened. They don’t press hard or circulate the ball endlessly. The moment they get the ball, they surge upfield with quick, sharp passing. Those could be long, short, square or diagonal. There will be runners around Messi, who veers to more central channels to conduct the game. In his latter years, he has been more Xavi, his Barca soulmate than himself, capturing the wondrous dexterity.
Perhaps, him lingering in the game originates from the discovery that there are more layers to his game than he had thought. That he is not finished yet. His demeanour would be fascinating. In Qatar, the devil in the saint often surfaced, the rough edges trapped in his peaceful face. The line to Dutch forward Wout Weghorst would be remembered as the rudest line he had ever uttered on the field: “what you looking at, fool?”
Maybe, Messi wants to experience all these emotions again, to suspend his golden sunset again. And the irresistible pull remains; to win and win it again.
Messi wants to match Messi himself, composing a tribute act to himself. (AP) 
In his latter years, Messi has been more Xavi, his Barca soulmate than himself, capturing the wondrous dexterity. (Reuters)
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