Will Messi Finally Cement his Legacy as the GOAT by Winning the 2022 World Cup?
Messi has had a long and successful career, during which he has broken a lot of records and won almost everything there is to win in football. But one question has stayed with him the whole time.
Why can’t he play for Argentina as he does for his club? Bookmakers like Bettors NG have good odds on Argentina doing well at this year’s World Cup, which makes sense given that they have done well in past tournaments and have a strong team of experienced players.
However, Messi’s international career has been a source of debate for a long time among both football fans and experts. People, maybe unfairly, thought this player would win at least one World Cup.
But here he is, 35 years old, playing in what is probably his last big international tournament. When asked recently to choose between his seven Ballon d’Or and a single World Cup, he chose the World Cup. To show how important it is to the Atomic Flea.
Germany 2006
Messi was put on the team for the 2006 World Cup in Germany after winning the U-20 World Cup in 2005. After sitting out Argentina’s first game, he took part in the team’s next two games. When he came off the bench against Serbia and Montenegro, Messi became the youngest player from his country to ever play in the World Cup.
In a great team effort, it didn’t take him long to set up Hernan Crespo for Argentina’s fourth goal. Later, he got on the end of a pass from Carlos Tevez to make it 6-0. Messi had made his name known around the world.
Messi was rewarded for his great 25-minute sub appearance by getting to start in the last group game against Holland, which ended in a 0-0 tie. In the last 16, he almost became his team’s “super sub” when he scored right after coming off the bench against Mexico with the score tied at 1-1 late in the game. The goal was called back because the player was out of position, but Maxi Rodriguez’s goal in extra time was enough to get them to the next round.
Messi was passed over for a more experienced player in the quarterfinals, so he had to watch as Argentina was eliminated on penalties by the home team. Something that Leo would see over and over again.
South Africa 2010
By 2010, Messi was a worldwide star and the most important player for both his club and the national team. He was only 23 years old. Diego Maradona, an Argentinian legend and the player who played No. 10 before Messi, was the manager. The country was excited and ready to win the World Cup for the first time since 1986. Messi’s manager compared him to some of Argentina’s best players, so both Argentina and Messi were expected to do well.
Messi lost the creative partnership he had with Riquelme, which helped them win the Olympics in 2008, and now he has to carry the weight of the whole country on his shoulders. Strangely, Maradona didn’t let Messi roam around and play the kind of game that made him so successful at the club level. Instead, he told Messi to help Carlos Tevez and a young Higuain score goals.
At first, things seemed fine, but then they ran into a familiar foe, Germany, in the quarterfinals. Messi couldn’t do anything as Argentina’s team, which was messy and disorganized, lost by a score of 4-0. Messi was going home from the World Cup without having scored a single goal.
Brazil 2014
After another four years, Messi had even more success with his club team. With more records broken, and more titles won, his name was now being brought up in talks about the GOAT.
With Di Maria, Aguero, Higuain, and Ezequiel Lavezzi as attacking options, how could they not win? They thought for sure that this was their chance. Messi was given the armband by the team’s manager at the time, Alejandro Sabella, during qualifying, as if there wasn’t already enough pressure on him.
Messi didn’t score in the World Cup until the 65th minute, when he scored against Bosnia and Herzegovina to give Argentina a 2-0 win. After that, he played well in the group stages, scoring one goal against Iran and two more against Nigeria in a 3-2 thriller that sent Argentina to the next round without a loss.
Messi didn’t score again in the knockout rounds until he scored the winning penalty kick in a shootout against the Netherlands. This gave Argentina the win and put Messi in his first World Cup final. The dream final, with Argentina and Brazil playing in Brazil, did not happen. Brazil had been humbled and dumped out in the most humiliating fashion against an industrious Germany, losing 7-1 on home soil. Putting Argentina against the team that had knocked them out of the last two World Cups.
For the third straight tournament, Germany beat Argentina. In a rough game in which Germany won 1-0 in extra time thanks to Mario Gotze, Messi did not get a single shot on goal. Messi was upset, Argentina was upset, and a lot of Messi’s fans turned against their favorite player.
Russia 2018
Argentina’s camp in Russia was tense because of a new coach, a player coup, and the pain of losing the last final. In spite of this, they just barely made it through the group stages. They got to the tournament similarly. If Messi hadn’t scored three goals against Ecuador, they wouldn’t have won. This team knew what to expect after coming so close to winning in 2014.
Messi was the water carrier again, but this time it was a bad Argentina team that he was trying to carry to the finish line. Coming second in their group after a disappointing start to the competition which saw them needing results to go their way to progress, Leo and Argentina were set to meet France in the round of 16.
They were knocked out after losing 4-3. Messi didn’t have much of an effect on the game because the amazing N’Golo Kante shut him down. Now that he was 31, people were wondering if one of the best players of all time would end his career with one trophy short.
Qatar 2022
Messi has had a rough few years. Barcelona’s problems got him kicked out, and his first season at PSG wasn’t great. People also keep saying that he isn’t as good a player as he used to be. Messi came into this season ready to prove his critics wrong. He has been in great shape for his team, playing 18 games, scoring 12 goals, and setting up 14 others.
After beating Brazil to win Copa America last year, he finally looks at ease when he’s wearing the captain’s armband. He doesn’t look like it’s a burden to play for his country anymore, and he’s not expected to carry the whole team on his back. This Argentina team is much more balanced than some from the past.
Messi no longer has to go deep to get the ball. Instead, his teammates pass it to him much closer to the other team’s goal, which is where you want a player with his skills to be.
This will be Messi’s last World Cup, and the whole footballing world will be watching as he leads out his beloved Argentina and Ronaldo leads out Portugal, hoping to finally settle the debate over who is the GOAT of the modern era.
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