It’s Now or Never for Messi!

ARGENTINA V FRANCE FINAL

*Mbappe’s dream of succeeding both Messi and Ronaldo loading…

At 35, Lionel Messi knows he’s at the twilight end of an illustrious career. He has achieved all that is there to win in football. The only missing link in his very rich football career is a FIFA World Cup winning medal. He has the final chance to make that happens this evening when Argentina take on France in the final game of Qatar 2022. How Messi will be rated after he hang his boot will be defined by what happens at the end of 90 minutes today inside the magnificent Lusail Stadium. Whether the petit Argentine will be rated along with the likes of his maverick compatriot Diego Armando Maradona and Brazilian legend, Arantes de Nascimento (Pele), remains a matter for football historians. To earn that tag of G.O.A.T (one of the Greatest Of All Times), Messi must conjure something out of the ordinary to ensure he leads the Albiceleste to the podium as winners of Qatar 2022! Anything short of that will be a minus and a dent he will have to live with the rest of his life.

Prior to Qatar 2022, Messi first the opportunity of a World Cup winning medal in 2014 when Argentina lost to Germany in the final of Brazil 2014. Another attempt failed at Russia 2018 when they lost to France in the Round of 16. But here in Doha, Messi who assumed the role of Commander-in-Chief of the sky-blue and white from South America, has earned all the rave reviews. From a shaky start to Saudi Arabia which earned them defeat, the former Barcelona legend led Argentina through thick and thin to be in today’s final game of the tournament. Messi has been phenomenal in Qatar and started scoring from the first match that saw La Albiceleste suffer that shock group opening defeat.

The Argentina forward will enter the Lusail pitch as a front-runner to even win the coveted Golden Boot with an edge over his Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappe. With both scoring five goals each, Messi’s tally of three assists is more than Mbappe, who has laid on two assists. Argentina’s Julian Alvarez and France’s Olivier Giroud are also in the race with four goals apiece.

With the French side still basking in the euphoria of defeating Argentina 4-3 in a thrilling Round of 16 game at the World Cup in 2018, with Messi failing to score, Didier Deschamps’ men will believe an encore is possible. They will be hoping to repeat the feat of Brazil in 1962 when the Selecao got into record books as the only second team to win the Mundial back-to-back.

“Messi, he’s been outstanding since the very beginning of the competition,” Deschamps told a press conference after his team’s win over Morocco in the semi-final.

But Messi’s PSG teammate, Mbappe, appears to be in a hurry to step into the shoes of outgoing great players like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Before the World Cup kicked off in Qatar, Mbappe was quoted to have said that he has no limits in his ambition. Of course, this has been translated variously to include no limit to becoming the latest GOAT.

“I always say I dream about everything. I have no limits. So of course, like you say, it’s a new generation. And Ronaldo, Messi — you’re gonna stop. We have to find someone else, someone new,” Mbappe was quoted by a wire agency in the pre-World Cup in Qatar.

Now, today’s final presents an opportunity for Mbappe to finally ‘retire’ Messi without achieving his heart desire of a World Cup winning medal. That thesis can better be explained by what happens on the pitch this evening in Lusail. However, whatever happens, PSG, incidentally owned by Qatar, will be the ultimate winner.

Milestones They Could Attain Today

*Messi will make his 26th World Cup appearance if he plays against France, taking outright the record he shares with Lothar Matthaus (25).

*Mbappe, who got France’s last goal in the title-clinching victory over Croatia in 2018, could become just the fifth player to score in multiple World Cup finals after Vava, Pele, Paul Breitner and Zinedine Zidane.

*If Argentina win in normal or extra time, Messi will tie Miroslav Klose’s record for most World Cup victories (17).

*Mbappe could become the first player to score two goals from outside the box in World Cup finals.

*Messi could became the first player to win multiple adidas Golden Balls at the World Cup. He was bestowed with the prize at Brazil 2014.

*If Mbappe and Messi are both on target, it would be the first time opponents from the same club score in a World Cup final. The last time two club-mates netted in the fixture was in 1974, when Bayern Munich pair Paul Breitner and Gerd Muller did it for West Germany.

FACTFILE

Messi

FIFA: Best Men’s Player (2019, 2009)

Ballon d’Or (2021, 2019, 2015, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009)

UEFA: Best Player in Europe (2015, 2011, 2009)

3x FIFA Club World Cup

1x Copa America (International)

4x Champions League winner

10x La Liga Champion

1x Ligue 1 Champion

3x UEFA Super Cup winner

7x Spanish Cup winner