Iionel Messi has the farewell he so desired. Or the stage for it, at least. On Sunday, the striker – known failure at international level – he will play his sixth grand final against Argentina. It will be his 26th World Cup game, more than any other, another cumulative record; it will also be the last.
“Being able to end my journey in the final makes me happy, and everything I’ve experienced here is beautiful,” said Messie at the end of yet another night graced by another moment, like a gift given: something to hold on to when he’s gone. Which is four days from now.
four days. One night. Everyone “knew” that this would be Messi’s last World Cup, the feeling that he might never see him again clings to every game. He knew it too, which is part of why it all happened this way: call it a mission, destiny, or just fun. Seize the day, not many left. And yet, 16 years after his first, as a substitute in This one Victory by 6 to 0 over Serbia and Montenegro, upon hearing the confirmation still agreed. Wait what? Will the final be your last? “Yes, it definitely will be,” Messi said on Tuesday night. “Many years before the next [World Cup] and I don’t think I can. Ending like this is cool.”
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So this is goodbye as far as Argentina is concerned. Still, what a way to go. It’s not over yet: the greatest game of all awaits. It’s colossal, of course. But even getting there felt a little like something had been accomplished, like some accomplishment had been achieved. By Messi and about Messi. You don’t know what you have until it’s (almost) gone. Later, at Lusail Stadium, an Argentine television reporter on Level 0 chose not to ask her last question. Instead, and you may have already seen the clip, she used it to say thank you: “Whatever the result, you made people happy,” she said. “You made an impact on everyone’s lives.”
Eventually, he made himself happy too, with more than a little help from friends new and old. By the end of the 2016 Copa América, defeated by Chile in the final, he had walked away. He didn’t always feel hugged, the weight crushing; he said he came to feel that everything was his fault. As it was put to him here: “You had to eat a lot of shit.” Yes, he admitted it, but it’s different now. “I’ve been enjoying everything that’s happening with us for a while now. To be able to end all that in the final makes me happy.”
This has been the doctrine of leader Lionel Scaloni: the sun will rise tomorrow. Messi has embraced that message and the time he has left; it became his message too, and there’s a sense that his teammates are invested not just in Argentina’s success but in their happiness, in doing some kind of justice.
“People understood that this is something we have to take advantage of,” said Messi. “We did extraordinary things: the Copa América, the 36 games without losing, a World Cup final. Obviously, we all want to win, but it’s a football game and anything can happen. Hopefully this will be different for Brazil [in 2014, when they lost against Germany]🇧🇷 I don’t know if this is my best World Cup, but I’ve been enjoying it since we got here.”
In Qatar, he has five goals and three assists. The stellar moments here are his. The goal against Mexico and the goal against Australia, a lot of Messi both, seen a thousand times otherwise. The absurd assist against Croatia, instant iconography: Josko Gvardiol, the defender everyone was talking about, turned inside out and inside out, hips popped, legs tied in a cartoon knot.
Messi leads the tournament statistics in goals, assists, chances created, dribbling and fouls conceded. Which still didn’t stop him. He played every minute. He has been Maradonese. He has been maradona, as a matter of fact. And it’s not just about excellence; there is the energy, the expression of commitment, identification. The sacrifice. Messi was holding his hamstring for a long time, so he did This one for Gvardiol. It is about the absolute refusal to let go: he was the one who declared that this was not done after the defeat of Saudi Arabia. The leadership, pulling them. There may be no moment of skill like the semi-final, but that doesn’t compare to his effort against Mexico.
There was the flash of anger that preceded the goal against Australia. The clashes against the Netherlands. The limit, the aggression, the shit if you like. O: what are you looking at, idiot? Argentina fans loved it. Messi seems to have, too. “He’s always been like that,” insists Scaloni, and there’s a fierce and furious competitor in him, but the fact that the trainer had to say so was instructive. They had never felt him this close, nor had he felt them this way. This isn’t just a competition, it’s a cause. A rebellion.
“Sometimes it’s an extreme situation, it’s not easy to go on the pitch knowing you have to win and otherwise you’ll go home. We’ve been doing this since the second game. This takes a huge mental toll and the group overcame that,” she said. “We’ve already played five ‘finals’ and we have one more.”
It would be wrong to forget how he got them to the finals before, but that’s another thing. He looks different, sounds different, acts different. Not least because it’s a different generation on the journey with him, his role changing, some of the weight of the past lifted, left behind. Yet there is also a legacy, says Scaloni, in what he leaves behind. They, in turn, are desperate to leave him in this last dance.
“What he did in the Copa America was incredible, but I’ve never seen anything like this World Cup in my life,” said goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. Cristian Romero added: “It’s crazy. Everyone knows what he is as a player, but that’s the kind of person he is. He is an example, a guy who always wants more. He’s taken so many hits, but he always gets back up.
In recent days, a photo has circulated: in it, 11-year-old Julián Álvarez, next to his idol, Lionel Messi. He now has another 11 years later: teammates this time, Messi holds him in an armbar and smiles after the Manchester City striker scored against Croatia.
“The things Leo can do are incredible”, he said, and he had seen that first leg, there to end an impossible assist, the best in the competition. Except, perhaps, the one that Messi gave to Nahuel Molina in the previous round.
Messi had made that pass and the tackle that freed Álvarez, running and advancing, to score the second. It was Enzo Fernández, however, who launched the ball that led Messi to score the first, from the penalty spot. And he also grew up seeing the man who gave Argentina the lead, who grabbed them and took them to their second World Cup final, much like Maradona.
In 2016, when Messi was considering leaving, Fernández posted a message on Facebook that ended with an apology and thanks. It said: “How are we, a bunch of little people who don’t live with 1% of the pressure you put, 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 having fun.”
Now, finally, he is, having the time of his life and theirs taking us all in for a final farewell.