The Greatest Footballer Who Ever Lived
There is an argument — a very strong one — that Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer in the history of the sport. He has won the Ballon d’Or (the award for the world’s best player) eight times. He has won La Liga, the Champions League, the Copa America, and in 2022 he finally won the one prize that had eluded him: the World Cup.
Messi is Argentine. He grew up in Rosario, moved to Barcelona as a teenager when the club paid for his growth hormone treatment, and spent 21 years there becoming arguably the greatest player the sport has ever seen. He left Barcelona in 2021 (due to the club’s financial problems), spent two years at Paris Saint-Germain, and then moved to Inter Miami in the United States.
The 2022 World Cup Final
If you watch one football match in your life, watch the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France. It is widely considered the greatest game ever played.
Argentina were 2-0 up with 10 minutes to go. France scored twice in two minutes to level it at 2-2. Extra time. Still 3-3 after extra time (Messi scored twice, Mbappe scored a hat-trick). Penalties. Argentina won. Messi finally had his World Cup.
In the stands, Argentina fans wept. In living rooms across the world, people who had no interest in football found themselves crying. It was that kind of moment.
Messi in 2026
Messi is 38 years old at this World Cup. He is not the same explosive player he once was — he cannot run past defenders the way he did at 25. But his intelligence, his vision, his ability to find space and play the perfect pass are undiminished.
Argentina are in Group J alongside Austria, Algeria and Jordan. They are expected to qualify comfortably. And Messi will be carrying an entire nation’s love — and a few hundred million more around the world — on his shoulders.
Most people believe this is his last World Cup. At 38, he is almost certainly playing his final major tournament. Every game he plays carries the weight of a farewell.
Can England Face Argentina?
Under the new World Cup format, the bracket is designed so the top four seeds — England, Spain, France and Argentina — cannot meet until the semi-finals. If England and Argentina both win their groups and progress through the knockout stages as expected, they could meet in the last four.
England vs Argentina in a World Cup semi-final would be one of the most watched sporting events in history. History, rivalry, Messi’s farewell, England’s 60-year wait. The football gods occasionally deliver. Watch this space.
