Messi’s World Cup Journey Returns to MetLife a Decade After Argentina Exit

NEW YORK – Anyone involved in football long enough can recall a Lionel Messi moment, typically from the losing end of one of the great player’s moments of magic — and almost always told with a smile.

“Let me share something really funny with you,” Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente said on Friday, two days before facing Argentina‘s captain in the World Cup final. “Talking about Messi, I met Messi when I was at Sevilla and we played a Copa del Rey match that was Sevilla against Barcelona, so we went to Barcelona. I heard about this guy called Lionel Messi, and obviously, we said, ‘Look. Let’s go for man-marking with this guy.’ Then in the 70th minute, we were 0-0, and then when our player who was marking him got a yellow card, I substituted him and Messi scored four goals.”

Such is the legacy of the sport’s most undeniable superstar, a sense of inevitability that follows every opponent regardless of tactics. It is fitting that his World Cup farewell comes with the trophy at stake, as he pushes further into the record books as the tournament’s all-time leading scorer. Messi’s recent form has been so dominant that his icon status is secure with or without Sunday’s medal. He has guided Argentina to two Copa América titles and a World Cup in five years, and could lead the first back-to-back champion since Brazil in the 1970s.

It is surreal that 10 years ago, in the very stadium where he may lift another World Cup on Sunday, he walked away.

Before his later triumphs, Messi was the unlucky leader who repeatedly fell short for Argentina. The hopes of a football-obsessed nation, awaiting its first major title since the 1993 Copa América, weighed on him. Chances slipped by — a decade ago he already had four Champions League crowns with Barcelona, yet lost two Copa América finals and the 2014 World Cup final without a trophy.

Argentina lost again in the 2016 Copa América final at MetLife Stadium, this time on penalties to Chile after a 0-0 draw, with Messi missing. The burden had finally told.

“My thinking right now and thinking about it in the locker room, I’m done playing with the national team,” he said then. “I tried my hardest. It’s been four finals, and I was not able to win. I tried everything possible. It hurts me more than anyone, but it is evident that this is not for me. I want more than anyone to win a title with the national team, but unfortunately, it did not happen.”

It was a rare admission from an athlete of his stature. What followed resembled a midlife reset — new tattoos across both arms, a brief bleach-blonde phase — before his international retirement ended quickly. He returned to Argentina’s side and has since played three World Cups, including this one.

His 2016 declaration now feels like a forgotten low given later success. It heightens the emotion of Sunday, even as age takes its toll. He is in veteran territory, captain of a side cast as villains for late, chaotic wins — aided by contentious calls — against a consistent, ruthless Spain. Outside Argentina, where he is a singular national figure, few neutrals have reason to cheer him.

Yet he remains must-watch. At 39, past his peak, he has even missed penalties at this World Cup, adding irony to his tie with Kylian Mbappé atop the scoring chart at eight goals. He is the familiar story that never grows old because he delivers when he should not. If de la Fuente’s teenage-Messi tale impresses, it echoes what Messi did Wednesday in Atlanta.

“For the majority, I thought we did pretty well,” England’s Dan Burn said after a 2-1 semifinal loss, surrendering a 1-0 lead in the 85th minute. “That probably shows the quality of player he is, where you can keep him quiet for most of the game and then he still pops up with two assists.”

He keeps proving that even from an all-time great, brilliance is never ordinary.

“Being able to reach a final at 39 years of age, I think it’s something unbelievable and that’s why I say we must enjoy him,” Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said on Friday. “As it happens with Diego Maradona that we miss him but Messi is still with us so we need to attach importance to what he does.”

MetLife is hardly a cursed ground for Messi — he has won there since, most recently a Copa América semifinal two years ago before the title. Even in defeat, it will not dim the memories. That his lowest Argentina moment came there only underscores how remarkable his late-career surge has been. He arrived at the 2022 World Cup with six career goals and now has 21.

“Together with this group of people who’ve brought us these wonderful years, we will always remember that Argentina’s footballers might make it,” Scaloni said, “but it’s very difficult to do this so they’ve achieved things that back in the day were totally unthinkable and I said that yesterday. I told them they had done something unbelievable and I was deeply thankful. My whole staff and I will be thankful forever.”

This World Cup has been Messi’s victory lap, the weight of Argentina shifting to privilege. He has played freely and, imperfect stretches aside, left his mark. He and the 2022 champions around him may win again Sunday, but one last view of Messi on the biggest stage may be the greatest prize.

“It wasn’t easy to come to this stage of the World Cup and competing for so many years at this level so I think this was something beautiful, something wonderful and you can win,” Scaloni said. “I hope we will win but if we don’t win, I think this journey was unbelievable and an example for everyone. I hope it will help our people, our country.”

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