Even this video can’t do Messi’s unique brilliance justice.
Whenever he does hang his cleats up, Lionel Messi will probably be remembered as the greatest soccer player in history. And with his likely last World Cup game on the docket — the 2022 Final this Sunday — he may well capture the one title that has eluded him over his entire career.
During Argentina’s semi-final bout with Croatia, the 35-year-old Messi showed why his trademark dominance has him again on the precipice of soccer’s greatest team honor. The Argentinians, of course, humbled the Croatians in a 3-0 win. And after he scored an easy penalty kick goal, Messi later decided to stunt on his opponent with an exclamation point play/pass that set up Argentina’s third tally.
While there are countless broadcast replays of the Messi highlight, a close-up video from actor Connor Kalopsis at the stadium in Qatar shows just how unbelievably hard the superstar worked before setting up Julián Álvarez on the doorstep.
I mean, COME ON! Messi takes a play that took around 10 seconds to develop and seemingly does it all in the blink of an eye when you see it presented like that.
I’d say other soccer players could replicate what Messi did with his assist, but we all know that probably isn’t true. Messi now leads this World Cup in both goals (6) and assists (5). All he needs is that elusive World Cup title to cap what has been a truly immaculate tournament for the legendary No. 10.
On the third-to-last day of games at the 2022 World Cup, Argentina cruised to a 3-0 victory over Croatia in the semifinals on Tuesday. And after entering the day with the second-best title odds (behind France), Argentina’s win has moved them up a spot to become the tournament’s odds-on favorite to win it all.
Argentina’s final match will be in Sunday’s championship game, where they’ll take on the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal matchup between France and Morrocco.
With only three teams remaining in the bracket, here is a look at the latest title odds, courtesy of BetMGM’s John Ewing.
Wojciech Szczęsny: Excellent keeper, bitter bettor
Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny is either fantastic at playing mind games on the pitch or the worst kind of person to make a bet with.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi would probably argue for the latter option.
During Wednesday’s Group C finale at the World Cup between the two nations, Szczęsny and Messi got tangled up in the box leading to a penalty review. The netminder was so certain the ref would find him innocent that he admitted to betting Messi 100 Euros the striker wouldn’t receive a penalty shot.
Szczęsny was wrong. Messi was awarded a PK. And Szczęsny is very open about the fact he won’t pay up.
“I told him I can bet him a 100 [euros] that [the referee] wasn’t going to give it. So I’ve lost a bet against Messi.” Szczęsny said after the match, per The Athletic’s Luke Brown.
“I don’t know if that’s allowed at the World Cup and I’m probably going to get banned for it but I don’t care right now. And I’m not going to pay him either! He doesn’t care about 100, come on.”
Considering Messi is worth over half a billion dollars — give or take a few tax scandals — of course he likely doesn’t care about an extra hundred bucks.
But it’s the principle of the matter. You make a bet, you pay up. And to make the matter even worse for Messi, Szczęsny — who seemed really confident beforehand — completely robbed him of a goal on the penalty kick.
So maybe one of the greatest goal scorers in soccer history was focused on Szczęsny holding out on him. Maybe he just missed. Either way, let this be a lesson to every player who gets too closer to Poland’s keeper: don’t bet with him.
Argentina won 2-0 as both teams advanced to the knockout stage.
Imagine being THIS cool before you have to stop Messi.
Heading into the final day of their group stage, Poland and Robert Lewandowski were simply hoping to preserve their place in the knockout stages. But after Argentina and Lionel Messi decided to absolutely shell the Poles, Lewandowski and Co.’s chances of living to fight another day seemed bleak. Argentina leveled Poland with 23 shots (13 on goal!) throughout their matchup while enjoying 74 percent (!) possession.
Naturally, with such output, two goals in a 2-0 Argentinian victory were inevitable. Even still, the margin kept Poland’s place in the Round of 16 — albeit on a very slim basis.
With what happened between Mexico and Saudi Arabia on the other side of Group C — especially concerning goal differential — if Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny doesn’t make an incredible save on a late first-half Messi penalty kick, the “biało-czerwoni” probably wouldn’t have advanced.
It was indeed a heroic play in a heroic individual performance:
Holy cow. You rarely see the arguably best player of all time stopped in such a spot. But Szczęsny — who stood on his head in an immaculate nine-save first half — didn’t seem worried about keeping Messi from scoring. In fact, he appeared to know he’d keep the legendary No. 10 off the board — judging by a casual gesture right before the kick:
Incredible. It should be impossible to be that cool in that clutch of a moment.
Szczęsny now leads all goalies at the 2022 World Cup with 18 saves. His two penalty kick saves (he made another against Saudi Arabia) are the most in any World Cup since the United States’ Brad Friedel did it in 2002. As Poland moves on to the Round of 16, they can thank their man between the posts, who is having himself quite the tournament so far.
They’ll face impossible odds to upset defending champion France, but anything can happen when you have a locked-in goalie like Szczęsny.
Expect an incredible show from two all-timers in a delicious Wednesday World Cup main course.
As various nations (like the US Men’s National Team!) gear up for the knockout stages of the 2022 World Cup, an underlying and perhaps bittersweet storyline may overshadow Wednesday’s titanic Group C matchup between Argentina and Poland.
With both squads seeking a firm place in the Round of 16, the Argentinians and Poles will lean on Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski — the two best players to ever feature for their respective teams — to become the hero. Unfortunately, in the event that the other side of the group — Mexico and Saudi Arabia — breaks the right (or wrong?) way, Wednesday could be the last time we see one of the two soccer icons suit up for their home country.
In recent months, speculation has mounted that Messi and Lewandowski may call it quits from international competition following this World Cup. That lays some delicious drama onto this showcase of the two current Group C leaders.
Of course, while he’ll never admit to it, Lewandowski could be seeking a measure of “revenge” on a personal level over Messi. The Argentinian midfielder beat out Lewandowski for the 2021 Ballon d’Or (awarded annually to the best soccer player in the world). Given that Messi only enjoyed a usual stellar season by his standards, while Lewandowski scored a record 41 goals en route to leading Bayern Munich to a win in the Champions League Final — some thought Messi’s honor was controversial.
Lewandowski quelled those concerns earlier this month. Knowing that Poland would eventually square off with Argentina, Lewandowski told World Cup journalists he’s not bitter with Messi and that he’s never “had anything ‘bad’ with him.” The prolific striker’s words are one thing. How he’ll actually respond on the field with Messi standing in the way of his first-ever appearance in a World Cup knockout stage is a different matter entirely.
Look for Messi to bring his trademark kitchen sink array of tools all over the field. And expect Lewandowski to aggressively take matters into his hands in response. (Oh, and did I mention neither has ever won a World Cup? That’s … probably a big deal here.)
As the group stages of this tournament finally wind down, Wednesday’s clash between two of the greatest to ever kick a round ball should be a wonderful treat. A draw might take Messi and Lewandowski into the Round of 16 in their potential international swan songs anyway. But that kind of result will also assuredly not come without a tense battle between a special No. 10 and a special No. 9.
The legendary boxer was set off by a post-game video of Messi in the dressing room
Canelo Álvarez is a boxer, after all, so perhaps its not so surprising that he’s looking for a fight.
But the target of Álvarez’s fury is a bit more eye-opening: Lionel Messi, perhaps the greatest soccer player ever. What did Messi do to Álvarez? Far less than you’d imagine for the fury the Mexican boxer unleashed on Twitter in the aftermath of his country’s World Cup loss to Argentina.
Messi was front and center in Saturday’s high-profile clash at Lusail Stadium, scoring the winner his side desperately needed in a 2-0 victory over El Tri.
In the aftermath of the win Argentina celebrated wildly in their dressing room and in the midst of those celebrations, Messi was seen giving the tiniest of kicks to a Mexico jersey he apparently obtained in a post-game jersey exchange.
Seriously, this kick was nearly non-existent, and also probably accidental.
Canelo had some strong words for Messi after seeing his locker room celebration 👀
But that was enough to draw the ire of the boxing legend, who went on Twitter not just to express his displeasure but to not-so-vaguely threaten one of the greatest players of all time.
“Did you see Messi cleaning the floor with our shirt and flag????” Álvarez tweeted.
“He better pray to God that I don’t find him!!” Álvarez added in another tweet. “Just like I respect Argentina, he has to respect Mexico! I’m not talking about the country as a whole, just about the b––––––– that Messi pulled.”
Naturally, some of Messi’s former teammates rushed to his defense, including former Argentina star Sergio Aguero.
“Mr. Canelo, don’t look for excuses or problems, surely you don’t know about football and what happens in a changing room,” the retired striker tweeted.
“The shirts are always on the floor after games have finished due to sweat and then if you look properly, he makes the movement to remove his boot and accidentally hits it.”
Former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas chimed in on Twitter, saying: “You don’t know this person, nor do you know how a dressing room works or what happens after a game. ALL shirts, including the ones we use ourselves, go on the floor and are washed afterward, even more so when you are celebrating an important victory.”
There is plenty of time for other World Cup controversies to overtake this one as the most inane (and obviously this one’s in a different category than some of the more consequential stuff), but the bar has certainly been set high.
Argentina’s talisman came though when his national team, and his country, needed it the most
LUSAIL, Qatar – He’s 35 now, no longer quite the quicksilver dribbling phenomenon he once was, torturing opposing defenses, dominating some of the highest-level matches of the 21st century. He’s a more mercurial presence, drifting, watching, walking for long stretches as he waits for the optimal moments to expend his energy to change games, just as apt to do so with a pass as a shot.
But Lionel Messi is still Lionel Messi. And he can still hoist a nation of 47 million soccer-obsessed people onto his back and carry them forward on the stage they love the most.
Somewhere around 88,000 souls had the privilege of witnessing his latest such act in person at glittering, pulsating Lusail Stadium on Saturday night. That’s where Messi delivered Argentina — both the national team and the nation — from the collective agony they’ve been suffering since the shock 2-1 upset loss at the hands of Saudi Arabia.
After more than an hour of tense, fraught and frankly ugly play, due in no small part to Mexico’s defensive tactics, Messi popped up in a fleeting pocket of space in Zone 14 to clip a daisy-cutting strike past Memo Ochoa to break the deadlock and spark euphoria, or perhaps something stronger and more haunting than that, among the legions of sky blue and white-clad supporters.
“The days were very long, that’s how they felt, and we were eager to have a chance to turn the situation around. It was a critical game,” said Messi in Spanish in the postgame press conference, alluding to the opportunity to “start again” after this victory. “We knew that if we won today, we’d have another chance … It was a weight off our shoulders and peace of mind.”
How much weight? On the Argentina bench, retired legend turned assistant coach Pablo Aimar wept next to manager Lionel Scaloni, visibly wracked with emotion as the tension broke. Afterwards manager Scaloni was asked about the moment.
Few sights demonstrate the pressure being heaped on this Argentina team like the site of assistant manager Pablo Aimar breaking into tears after today's vital Messi goal to help Argentina rebound from their opening game loss to Saudi Arabia. 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/JejuXfMQ4u
“It’s what you live when you are here,” he said. “The feeling that you are playing something more than a football match, that’s not nice, and that is what I was feeling … the feeling we all had was relief, and of course it is difficult to make people understand that tomorrow the sun will shine whether we win or lose.”
This truly was a group-stage match with the jitters and the zero-sum vibe of a knockout match. Mexico’s Argentine manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino, said to be a favorite of Messi’s, who coached him on both the national team and FC Barcelona, went defensive with his lineup and shape, a 5-3-2 formation intended to stymie Messi & Co., and it just about worked.
“The idea was to stop their midfield and then counterattack very quickly, finding spaces. We did achieve that in some ways, but we missed the final pass,” said the former Atlanta United coach, who now faces a steep road to reach the knockout stages and the withering public criticism that inevitably comes with that.
Though it was a far cry from the vibrant, proactive El Tri sides of the past, much less Martino’s own high-octane philsophical identity, it seemed to frustrate Scaloni’s team and the mounting tension in this lavish bowl was palpable. Could Messi’s fifth World Cup really end in the group phase?
It took a formation change to a 3-5-2 by the Albiceleste and some trademark Messi magic to provide the answer they sought.
“Tata’s groups predominantly have the ball, get lots of numbers into the box, push the wingers high – it was quite the opposite, thus it was quite a closed game,” said Argentine midfielder Rodrigo De Paul. “But I think we had patience.”
Credit: Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports
Many had predicted this would be Argentina’s tournament. It’s Messi’s last dance (most likely) and quite possibly the apex of a group of players who with last year’s Copa America title finally cured their habit of losing finals. Losing to the unfancied Saudis right out of the gate had thrown all that into question, and a country with more psychologists per capita than anywhere on earth is expert at fretting over their team.
“This brings us more calmness. After the loss I was very anxious, and wanted to reverse the situation. I really wanted the win,” said Messi, who surprised reporters by taking questions in the postgame mixed zone in addition to his role in the press conference as man of the match.
“We have confidence in our group, our team. We haven’t lost much and we can’t reverse that because of just one loss, but it wasn’t easy to come and play against Mexico, which has a great national team, one that plays well, that runs a lot. It was a unique situation because we knew that one loss would make it very hard, and for many this was the second game in a World Cup, and all of that adds up.”
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Messi and Argentina may well mount the march to the final that so many expected them to make; their next chance to display their championship credentials arrives on Wednesday versus Poland. This night’s drama suggests we’ll be on the edge of our seats whatever the outcome.
“The feelings of joy and happiness that we won, of course they are there and they enjoy that in the dressing room. But that’s it, tomorrow we will prepare for the next game,” said Scaloni, whose team celebrated raucously in their Lusail locker room long after the final whistle. “We need to find that emotional balance when we win, when we lose.
“On top of having great players,” he added, “we have Leo.”
Mexico is on the brink of a group-stage exit for the first time since 1978
Mexico couldn’t be eliminated no matter the result of Saturday’s World Cup group match against Argentina, but the 2-0 loss to the South Americans puts El Tri on the brink of their first group stage exit from the World Cup since 1978.
After a cagey first half that saw El Tri fluster Argentina in the Copa America champions’ final third, the second saw goals from Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez make the difference. Argentina stayed alive in its push to get out of the group stage after a shock loss to Saudi Arabia in the first group game.
Here are three thoughts as Mexico now looks to work out a great escape to get out of the group’s basement and into the round of 16 for the eighth consecutive time:
Mexico game plan comes undone in one moment
Mexico set up in a way that was designed to fluster Argentina star Messi and the rest of Argentina’s powerful attack. But this was the type of game where a moment of magic could arrive at any time, in which 30 seconds switched off could make the difference.
That moment arrived in the 64th minute, as Messi took a touch and fired past Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
“We made a mistake that had to do with the three midfielders coming together in the same area as Argentina and when we weren’t able to stop that build and the opponent turned us around, they found Messi alone and he hit the goal from a medium distance, but I don’t think it was a game in which he found a lot of space in the final third,” Martino answered testily after a journalist asked him in the news conference about leaving Messi plenty of space.
“But I also understand that Argentina’s goals can change the view of what happened over the 90 minutes. Normally, that happens because you guys normally analyze results.”
Call it lazy journalism if you must, but the result is what matters here. If Mexico played a terrible match and came away with a 1-0 win, its prospects of getting out of the group and continuing toward its ultimate goal of winning the World Cup would be much stronger.
Going into a match Mexico had a game plan that, as Martino himself said in his news conference, anticipated few attacking opportunities and relied on getting a goal on a set piece or other chance encounter. That sets a team up for failure when, predictably, one of the best players in the world makes a great play.
It’s a strange game to go with that strategy, but it’s what Martino and his staff did. Now, they’re very much working from behind going into the final match.
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Midfield eventually breaks down as Martino drops Edson
El Tri kept a three-man midfield but changed personnel as Martino went from a 4-3-3 in the first game to a 5-3-2 in the second. But this change saw Martino drop Edson Alvarez, who has been one of the national team’s most consistent performers.
Reports in Mexico indicate that the Ajax player’s late arrival into Mexico’s camp in Spain before the World Cup meant he didn’t have as much time to get familiar with the formation change, leading Martino to utilize experienced midfielders Andres Guardado and Hector Herrera with Luis Chavez behind them.
While Martino couldn’t have seen the knock to Guardado in the first half coming, it’s been obvious all cycle that Guardado and HH aren’t able to hang with a top team for 90 minutes any longer.
“Edson? Nothing. I understood this was the team that had to start,” Martino said when asked if Alvarez was kept out for an injury or another reason. But he could’ve used the Ajax ace in the middle, especially considering Alvarez has the versatility to slot into the center back line if Martino truly wanted to utilize the midfield trio he had.
The midfielders weren’t the only players to run out of gas.
With the strategy of having typical wingers Hirving “Chucky” Lozano and Alexis Vega start up top and essentially take on the entire Argentina defense on their own, the players both ended up coming off looking worse for the wear.
“We had thought the tiredness of the two forwards was going to be significant, and we’d have to make changes. We trained in that way. We decided on the Vega change, Chucky asked to come out just before the Argentina goal and that’s where we re-accommodated and went to our habitual system taking a guy out of the back five.”
That Martino’s plan took into account the amount of running the two forward players would be doing but apparently not what he was asking from Guardado, HH and Chavez is puzzling. A platoon approach may have worked better or even sacrificing Herrera rather than Alvarez to go with a player more recently asked to shut down top players in the UEFA Champions League.
(AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Mexico needs goals and goals and goals, but from where?
El Tri’s scenarios to advance are clear and all of them involve, first and foremost, beating Saudi Arabia.
Mexico also could use some help in the other game, though there are ways through with all possible results. If Poland beats Argentina and Mexico gets the win, El Tri advance. If Argentina wins and drives Poland’s goal difference down, Mexico can advance with some goals of its own in a victory. A draw in the other game combined with a Mexico win by four or more also would see Mexico move through in second place.
Here's how #ElTri and the rest of Group C sit as the dust settles. To get out of the group, #Mex needs: – A win against Saudi Arabia to get to 4 points AND – A Poland win OR – A combination of an Argentina win + Mexico win by a margin that swings the GD pic.twitter.com/N4vrnqfRQU
Clearly, the most likely scenarios to get through involve Mexico not only beating Saudi Arabia, but also scoring more than once. But where are those goals going to come from? After 180 minutes of soccer, Mexico is yet to find the back of the net. It’s clear Raul Jimenez has only about a half-hour in the tank. We’ve yet to see Martino lean on Rogelio Funes Mori. And while Lozano and Vega both have had good performances in each of the first two contests, they both work better with a No. 9 to set up after creating from the wing.
“While we still have a chance, we’ll keep trying. It definitely will be difficult,” Martino said. “The second Poland goal hurt us, and Argentina’s second goal hurt us more.”
It’s true that Enzo Fernandez’s goal was a big blow for Mexico. But Martino knew this was the situation from the moment the draw was revealed. Even still, he left creative players like Diego Lainez off his roster and never made up with Mexico’s all-time leading scorer Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.
A game like Saturday’s was screaming for a player who could come off the bench and make something from nothing for himself, or a gritty player in the middle to claw a goal back. Instead, Mexico now is heading into the last match wondering how it can score all the goals it needs to extend its tournament.
With World Cup elimination on the line, soccer superstar Lionel Messi came up in a huge way for Argentina in its game against Mexico.
Messi blasted in a goal on Mexico keeper Guillermo Ochoa at about 65 minutes into the contest to give Argentina the 1-0 advantage.
It was the kind of hero move that Messi has become famous for in his career, and it helped Argentina keep pace with Mexico to avoid being the most stunning team to get sent home from Qatar early.
Legendary Argentine-American soccer sportscaster Andrés Cantor was on the call for Telemundo, and his famous “goal!” chant got a workout on this incredible moment for Messi and Argentina.
Even if you’re just a casual World Cup spectator, it’s hard not to get goosebumps from that call.
Messi will obviously go down in history for what he’s given the Argentina’s national team, and this goal will be just one of many highlights. Cantor’s call, though, made it even more special.
In a game devoid of quality, the legend stepped up with a moment of brilliance
Argentina needed someone to step up and save its World Cup status. It’s not hard to guess who was there to fill the role of hero.
Midway through the second half of a scoreless game against Mexico, one filled with rough challenges and devoid of any attacking quality, Lionel Messi stepped up with a moment of brilliance to make the difference.
Argentina, of course, entered the game on the back of one of the most stunning results in World Cup history: a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia that left one of the pre-tournament favorites needing to avoid defeat against Mexico, or be eliminated in their second game.
A draw would have left them in a precarious position as well, though. Only three points would really do for the Albiceleste.
For a while on Saturday at Lusail Stadium, those three points looked elusive. Lacking any real attacking threat of its own, Mexico succeeded in turning the game into a slugfest. By the 64th minute, it was difficult to see where the goals would come from for either side.
But that’s when Messi stepped up and did what he does best. Needing just a few feet of space from around 25 yards out, he drove an inch-perfect fizzing low shot into the far corner.
There’s all to play for in Group C entering the final matches, with Mexico still having a chance to advance despite sitting in last place with one point. Argentina and Saudi Arabia are on three points apiece while Poland tops the group with four.
But Argentina now has a platform to go forward and make the kind of deep run so many expected. Without their superstar, Argentina may have been pondering a much different fate after Saturday’s game.
