ATLANTA: Lionel Messi has already won the World Cup, but the Argentina captain added another chapter to his astonishing career on Wednesday, inspiring his side to victory in their semi-final against England.
The defending champions were up against it and trailed Anthony Gordon’s goal until the 85th minute in Atlanta before Messi worked his magic.
This time, the tournament’s all-time leading scorer did not score. But he teed up Enzo Fernandez to equalize and provided the cross for Lautaro Martinez to head in the winner to secure a 2-1 victory.
“It’s special emotions. I think the team could feel it and this was a game the Argentine people really wanted to win and we did too,” Messi, 39, said after facing England for the first time in his career.
“This is still a special lineup.”
He was not quite able to emulate Diego Maradona, who scored two iconic goals in Argentina’s 1986 World Cup quarter-final victory over England.
But he will settle for the two assists and has already emulated his legendary predecessor by winning the trophy four years ago in Qatar.
Now, after Argentina maintained their incredible record of never losing a World Cup semi-final, Messi will appear in a second consecutive final and a third overall.
The South Americans are aiming to become the first team to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962 and Messi, the sole survivor of the side that lost to Germany in 2014, will become just the second player after Brazil great Cafu to appear in three finals.
“It’s crazy to play in back-to-back finals,” he said.
Argentina had already staged a stunning late comeback to beat Egypt 3-2 at the same Atlanta stadium in the last 16 and they smelled blood as England sat deeper and deeper after going ahead.
“Again we managed to do the job when things looked bad. We never stopped believing,” said Messi, who has now made a record 33 World Cup appearances across six different tournaments.
For long periods on Wednesday his influence was limited, but that has often been the way with Messi and he was still able to drag his side to victory.
“I felt for large parts of the game we handled him really well. But as always with the most dangerous players in the world, when they have the ball in the final third they can create something,” England captain Harry Kane said.
“He did that again today. He’s obviously one of the best players ever for a reason.”
Spanish Reunification
Messi is arguably the greatest of all and there may no longer be an argument if Argentina successfully defend their title in Sunday’s final against Spain.
Pele and Maradona only played in two World Cup finals, with Maradona winning the trophy only once.
Messi is also the all-time top scorer in World Cup history with 21 goals, although Kylian Mbappe is just one behind and plays England in third place on Saturday.
He could easily have bowed out of international football after 2022, when Argentina defeated France in the final.
But he appears to have been saving himself for this World Cup in recent years, removing himself from the intensity of European football and acclimatising to American conditions with Inter Miami.
While Cristiano Ronaldo’s continued presence in the Portuguese team may have held them back, Messi remains almost as influential as ever.
“He’s just the leader and the key player in any team where he plays,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said.
Now he gets the chance to play against Spain in a competitive match for the first time, and the identity of the opponent makes the occasion even more special.
Messi moved to Barcelona with his family at the age of 13 and stayed for two decades before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021.
He has a Spanish passport and may one day settle down again in Castelldefels, just down the coast from Barcelona.
But before Messi thinks about it, he will end Spain’s dreams.
