Argentina are one win away from sporting immortality.
Lionel Scaloni’s side are bidding to become just the third team to win successive World Cups, after Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962).
If they are to pip European champions Spain to the crown, they will need Lionel Messi to be at his best. Again.
Is he the greatest of all time?
Whatever your response to that statement – and it could be debated for hours – it cannot be denied that the Argentine maestro is among the best players to ever set foot on a pitch.
Win on Sunday and Messi will become the first captain to lift the World Cup trophy twice.
After perhaps underwhelming in his first four tournaments, he was outstanding in 2022 – as Argentina won the trophy – and is now just one goal behind Kylian Mbappe in his bid to become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer.
It is remarkable to think that Messi initially retired from international football back in 2016 before changing his mind.
Sunday’s World Cup final will be his 34th appearance in the competition, but will it be the last we see of Messi in the famous blue and white stripes?
BBC Sport looks at what might be next for the great man – and could he even aim to play at a seventh World Cup in 2030?
Will Messi’s ‘passion’ take him to 2030 World Cup?
If Messi decides to carry on with Argentina to 2030, then he would become the oldest outfield player to appear at a World Cup, at the age of 43 – unless, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo opts to keep going for Portugal.
Not only could Messi add a new record to his long list, but he would have the chance to play in one of the centenary matches held in Argentina at the start of the next World Cup.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague doesn’t think this is the last fans will be seeing of Messi at the World Cup.
“Even if you hear it is the end, I doubt it but we’ll see. I just see him with the national side, simply because he enjoys it,” he said.
“I don’t see him being at Inter Miami in the MLS, still performing and then saying that’s it and he’s going to play out the rest of his career with Inter Miami.”
Messi’s 2026 World Cup has been nothing short of sensational. He has scored eight goals in seven games – two goals behind tournament top scorer Mbappe – and has carried Argentina into the final with a series of virtuoso performances.
Argentina boss Scaloni hailed Messi as the greatest player ever, saying: “He is history, a legend. I feel proud, he is the best footballer the world has ever seen and reaching a final at 39 is something unbelievable – and that is why I said we must enjoy him.
“With Diego Maradona, we still miss him but Messi is still with us so we must enjoy him.
“I have no idea if this is Leo’s last game, you will have to ask him. We haven’t discussed it.”
His displays in North America continue a quite remarkable late career resurgence for Messi at World Cups. Fifteen of his 21 tournament goals have come since his 35th birthday.
Having already lifted the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Messi showed he had the motivation to keep going in 2026. The question is whether that continues to 2030.
“I feel that he hasn’t said the last word yet,” said Balague. “He finishes games, 120-minute games, at 39.
“In the first 90 minutes against Cape Verde, he covered 6.5km and 62% of that is walking.
“You can add a bit more walking. The passion is still there. All of that means he’s not going to leave the national side.”
There is also the factor of Messi playing at a World Cup in front of a home crowd.
The 2030 World Cup will have six host nations. While the majority of matches will take place in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, at least one game will be played in each of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. A world stage game in front of an Argentine crowd may be too much for Messi to resist.
Messi himself hinted that the 2022 final would be his international swansong.
“I am very happy for finishing my journey in World Cups in a final, to play the last game in a final. That is really very gratifying,” he said before the 2022 showpiece.
“There are a lot of years from this year to the next one. I don’t think I will be able to do that. To finish this way is brilliant.”
That has obviously proved to not be the case. So regardless of what might be said after the 2026 final, keep an eye on 2030.
World Cup records continue to fall for Messi
Messi didn’t add to his goal tally in Argentina’s semi-final against England, but his two assists in their late comeback victory mean he now has 12 World Cup assists, 10 of which have come in the knockout rounds. No other player on record has more than eight in total.
His career has been littered with individual records in club football: most Ballons d’Or, Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer, most La Liga goals, most goals in a calendar year, and most official recorded assists.
As for his individual records at World Cups…
- Leading appearance maker with 33
- One of only two players, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, to play at six men’s World Cups
- Only player to win two Golden Balls – 2014 and 2022
- Scored in every round on the way to lifting the trophy in 2022 – the only player to do so
- Holds the record for most men’s World Cup assists with 12
- Scored or assisted in 11 consecutive World Cup appearances, extending the longest-ever run by a player on record since 1966
- Scored in a record nine men’s World Cup games in a row
- He will also become only the second player after Cafu to play in three World Cup finals.
By BBC Sports
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