Suddenly, as if time itself had folded two eras into one, Lionel Messi offered up a reaction that unmistakably echoed Diego Maradona’s from forty years before. One came at Atlanta Stadium in the USA. The other, in Mexico.
“Hand in hand with Leo Messi, we’re all going on the victory lap,” rang out from thousands of Argentina fans after the booked La Albiceleste’s place in the final of the .
Wearing the captain’s armband on his left arm and clad in that unmistakable blue, Messi recreated a gesture once made by Argentina’s other great No10. One came out on the pitch; the other, shirtless in the dressing room, moments after complaining of a blow to the head. Messi raised his arms to the stands, pointed towards his teammates and made his message clear: “Everyone! All of us!”
Against England, the threads of Argentinian football finally came together, rekindling the feeling that Maradona and Messi sharing the same homeland can hardly be put down to chance. Amid dusty pitches, worn boots, tufts of grass and balls bouncing in every direction, there is always a No10 shirt. Around that number, a way of playing is born. Against England, there was no Maradona-style run past five defenders and no goal from Messi. Yet he carried the same pride, the same urge to run, to break clear and to give everything for the shirt, whatever the circumstances. Some footballing ideas go beyond scorelines, age or occasion.
The first half was hard going for Messi. Stifled by England’s press, he was forced to scrap, to find pockets in traffic, to draw fouls and, at times, to lose the odd duel, particularly with Elliot Anderson. Until England’s goal, the game had followed much the same pattern for the Argentina skipper. However, with the scoreline against them, Lionel Scaloni’s side responded with character.
They went after the game with a hunger to play. By committing more players forward, and with Lautaro Martinez coming on to partner Julian Alvarez, Messi found space on the right flank just as he did against Egypt. From there, the best of the captain emerged and two assists followed. The first, for Enzo Fernandez, appeared simple, opening the way for a finish that was anything but straightforward through a crowd of legs.
The second defied easy explanation. Messi deceived two opponents and, in the same movement, sensed precisely where Lautaro Martinez would arrive, between two of Thomas Tuchel’s centre-backs and in front of Jordan Pickford who, only moments earlier, had looked unbeatable.
Among the many clips to circulate in recent days was one of Maradona before facing England, in which a journalist asked how the European side should be approached. His answer was emphatic. “The ball stays on the deck, keeping it under control, the way we Argentinians have always played. We can't change our way of playing just because the opponents are England.” In the second half, Messi led and a brave, gifted team followed, as Scaloni’s side rediscovered the best of their game and reached heights they had scarcely scaled at any previous point in the tournament.
With England camped deep, Argentina discovered gaps where none appeared to be, fuelled by the quality and difference-making ability of their players: the first touches, the feints, the passes, the dribbles and the surges into the box. At 1-0, only the woodwork and fine margins seemed to be standing between La Albiceleste and an equaliser. When they finally drew level, there was a sense that Argentina were only growing stronger, their football becoming too much for anyone to contain. Just as they had against France in the Qatar final and against Brazil in South American qualifying for 2026, Argentina had reconnected with the side of themselves that sets them apart.
That piece of the puzzle Scaloni and his coaching staff so often describe as unique: their grassroots instinct. “From the moment my dad bought me my first boots, I dreamed of scoring this goal,” said Lautaro Martinez.
“We're unique, and that is not arrogance. It comes from the heart,” Scaloni said after the match, through tears. At the final whistle, Messi took his time to celebrate. He sang, embraced his team-mates and urged the crowd not to salute him alone, because this victory belonged to everyone. Then he sat on the Atlanta grass, drew his knees in and let himself savour the moment. At 39, he is set to play in his third FIFA World Cup final, having endured the pain of defeat to Germany in Brazil 2014 and experienced the catharsis of Lusail after overcoming France.
“Playing in back-to-back World Cup finals is madness. This group is incredible. Today, when it got difficult, we went after it again because we never stopped believing, never stopped trying, and we did it with our football. When we fell behind, we pinned them back. We're just over the moon,” Messi said after the match.
Spain now await, the country where his career began. There, Messi will look to write another chapter in a story that already feels unique. Whatever the final brings, Argentina have once more shown that their greatest treasure is not a single extraordinary footballer, but a way of feeling the game. It is the thread that ties Maradona to Messi, and it begins, as it always has, with a boy on a dusty pitch, chasing a ball and dreaming of the No10 shirt.
Sources: FIFA Official
