Messi and the making of an Argentina legend
Fans will feel joy at bestowing arguably the most richly deserved ovation, juxtaposed with the visceral sadness of watching a nation-defining story come to an end. Former team-mates will be there, along with family and friends. So too will thousands of supporters, with every ticket already snapped up. Yet however deafening the roar inside the stadium, it may be nothing compared with what remains, with everything that La Pulga leaves behind.
“Messi’s legacy will last forever,” said Lionel Scaloni ahead of the series of friendlies that are offering a glimpse of where the FIFA World Cup runners-up now find themselves: in the midst of a transformation. The tactician and his staff, whose contracts run until December, are yet to confirm whether they will remain in their posts.
The No10 shirt remains vacant for now, at the coach’s request. Cristian Romero is getting his first taste of captaining the side on a regular basis, while Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez, so often rivals for one centre-forward berth, have been lining up together in attack.
“It’s a farewell that hurts a lot, but we have to enjoy this moment with Leo because it’s so special,” said Enzo Fernandez, now one of the squad’s leading voices, ahead of Argentina’s friendlies. "We know the legacy he leaves behind and how special he is to us.”
Against that backdrop, the foundations of La Albiceleste have been built around Messi. Even when he is not there, his presence can still be strongly felt, almost as a necessity. On the surface, Argentina’s No10 will bid his final farewell to the national team before a packed stadium ready to pay him one last, fully deserved tribute. On a deeper level, it will be a moment to reflect once again on the scale of his influence.
Here Is a look back at just some of the highlights of the Argentina No10’s legacy.
The Argentina connection
Jorge Messi, Leo’s father, had the idea. His son had been making waves in Barcelona’s youth ranks for some time, but the call from Argentina’s youth teams had never come, so he decided to make a move of his own. Jorge put together a video compilation of his son in action and got it into the hands of the senior Argentina set-up during a training camp in Europe. The first person to watch it was Claudio Vivas, Marcelo Bielsa’s assistant.
“Play it at normal speed because you can’t watch it like this,” Bielsa instructed Vivas in the hotel room. “This is normal speed, Marcelo.” Bielsa was flabbergasted. “He’s phenomenal,” was his appraisal. It took three months for the VHS tape to reach Hugo Tocalli, who was in charge of Argentina’s youth teams alongside Jose Pekerman. After the FIFA U-17 World Championship Finland 2003, Pekerman asked the Argentinian Football Association to hurriedly arrange a friendly so that Messi could make his senior debut and secure the youngster’s international future with Argentina. The rest is history.
That initial push also evidenced something fundamental in Messi’s relationship with Argentina: his burning desire to pull on the Argentinian colours. Apart from the occasional interruption, such as when he famously declared that the national team was “not for me” after losing the 2016 CONMEBOL Copa America final to Chile, he never failed to answer Argentina’s call, culminating in more than 200 caps over more than 20 years.
Leadership
Argentina were heartbroken. The South American champions, unbeaten in 36 matches, had just lost to Saudi Arabia in their opening game of the 2022 global showpiece. Their dreams of clinching World Cup glory for the third time lay in pieces. Lusail Stadium had witnessed one of the most seismic upsets in tournament history.
The tension in the mixed zone was palpable, as was the uncertainty over which Argentina players would stop to explain what had just happened. In football’s world of extremes, 90 minutes can stand between dreams and nightmares, between being champions-in-waiting and staring failure in the face.
In the end, few opted to face the music, an understandable decision in the wake of such a painful result, but one man spoke to everyone. Absolutely everyone, from beginning to end: Lionel Messi. The captain stopped again and again without ducking a single question. Amid all the answers, explanations and reflections, he had a message for his country: “People have to trust us. We won’t let you down.”
Messi’s leadership grew with the passing years, his stature as a leader built on the example he set. From the moment Diego Maradona handed him the captain’s armband at the 2010 FIFA World Cup to that final in New Jersey, his leadership only grew stronger. The boy who had grown up tasked with upholding the values of respect, competitiveness and love for the shirt had more than fulfilled his role.
Never-say-die attitude
Messi’s career and mindset seemed to be distilled into a handful of moments at the FIFA World Cup 2026, which served up an emotional rollercoaster for Scaloni’s side.
La Pulga never stopped running against Cabo Verde, despite the physical toll of 120 minutes in the Miami heat. He refused to give in against Egypt, finding a pocket of space on the right flank and suddenly looking 15 years younger, harking back to the winger of old. The 39-year-old grabbed the semi-final against England by the scruff of the neck, demanding the ball and setting up two crucial goals as Argentina turned the tie around in what became one of the most symbolic encounters in the national team’s history.
After the fully deserved final defeat by Spain, he stood with his hands behind his back and wept in front of the Argentina supporters.
“I want to finish my career having won something with Argentina and if I don’t, I want to have tried as many times as possible. I don’t want to be left with the feeling it didn’t work out for me because I let opportunities pass me by. I want to get back up, try once more and be there again,” said Messi in 2019.
The beautiful game did then give him everything that he had been chasing. Yet even when it did, he kept pushing for more – partly, no doubt, through ambition and a hunger for glory, but, above all, because of a love he found it impossible to walk away from.
After the loss to Spain, with the pain still raw and tears falling on to the grey seats, the Argentina supporters waved their shirts and sang. A few metres away stood their No10, their symbol, their hero, hurting more than anyone, devastated by his second reverse in a World Cup final. In that moment, it was clear to see that Messi had achieved something virtually unprecedented in the nation’s history: he made Argentinians feel a sense of pride even in defeat.