Argentina came from behind to win 2-1 in Atlanta. Anthony Gordon gave England the lead in the 55th minute, but Messi responded by moving out to the right wing and essentially taking over the match. In the final 37 minutes, Argentina had 88 percent possession while England sat deep and invited pressure. Messi completed nine dribbles and set up both of his team's goals, becoming the first player on record since 1966 to achieve that in a single World Cup knockout match. His first assist came from a corner routine that found Enzo Fernandez, who struck in an 85th-minute equaliser from outside the box. His second was a cross that Lautaro Martinez met with a header in injury time to seal Argentina's place in the final against Spain in New Jersey on Sunday.
A Performance That Defied Every Expectation
The scale of what Messi produced was not just impressive in isolation. The numbers put it into sharper relief. He had seven touches in England's penalty area across the entire match, the same number as every England player combined. He created four chances on his own, again matching the entire England team's total. He put in nine crosses, the most of any player on the pitch. England had competed well for most of the game and had genuine chances to extend their lead before Messi shifted the match. Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni made clear after the final whistle that getting Messi out wide was the tactical decision that changed everything, a view echoed by goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who described the positioning switch as the key to the victory.
Former England players reflecting on the performance were candid about the gulf between what Messi produced and what any defensive effort could do about it. The suggestion was that England locked things down defensively in a way that had worked against Mexico and Norway in earlier rounds, but that created exactly the conditions in which Messi flourishes. Once he had space and the ball at his feet in the final quarter of the game, there was very little England could do. England captain Harry Kane acknowledged that his team had dealt with Messi well for long periods but conceded that the best players in the world always have the ability to produce something when it counts.
A Record-Breaking Career That Shows No Sign of Ending
This summer Messi became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history with 21 goals across his career, breaking the previous record. Fifteen of those 21 goals have arrived since he turned 35. Eight have come at this tournament alone, surpassing the seven he scored in 2022, which was itself one short of Kylian Mbappe's total that year. He now sits level with Mbappe on eight goals at this tournament, with four assists to Mbappe's three. If goals are tied when the Golden Boot is calculated, assists serve as the tiebreaker, giving Messi a slight edge heading into Sunday's final.
His journey to this point has been anything but linear. He famously retired from international football in 2016 following his third Copa America final defeat, before reversing that decision and eventually winning back-to-back Copa Americas. When he lifted the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, he spoke about how unlikely it felt that he would still be involved at the next tournament. When he moved to Inter Miami in the MLS the following year, it seemed like a natural winding down. Yet he has scored or assisted in 13 consecutive matches for club and country, and if he contributes to a goal in Sunday's final, he will match his own record of 14 in a row set in 2011. He will also become just the second player in history, after Cafu, to appear in three World Cup finals.
His game has unquestionably changed. He walked 47 percent of the distance he covered in this tournament, the highest percentage of any outfield player, conserving energy and picking his moments rather than pressing relentlessly. Spanish football journalist and Messi biographer Guillem Balague has noted that Messi has tactically reinvented himself at least five times across his career, always finding a new way to remain relevant and decisive at the highest level. When he is asked whether this will truly be his final World Cup match, perhaps the only honest answer after everything he has done is that nobody should presume to know.
