Lionel Messi may not have found the back of the net in Argentina’s dramatic 2-1 victory over England in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final, but the match once again illustrated why the 39-year-old remains one of football’s most influential figures.

While modern superstars are often judged by goals and individual moments of brilliance, Messi continues to demonstrate that greatness can also be measured by the ability to elevate those around him.

As Argentina celebrated reaching a second successive World Cup final, it was telling that the players sprinted towards Messi after Lautaro Martinez headed home the stoppage-time winner. The goal belonged to Martinez, but the moment belonged to the captain whose vision, composure and technical excellence created it.

The image captured the essence of Messi’s enduring value to Argentina. Even on a night when he did not score, he shaped the outcome of the biggest match of the tournament.

A Different Kind of Superstar

Football’s modern era has produced several extraordinary players, each with a distinctive approach to carrying their teams.

Cristiano Ronaldo built a career around relentless goal-scoring and decisive finishing. France’s Kylian Mbappe often uses explosive pace and individual brilliance to change matches in an instant.

Messi’s influence, particularly in the twilight of his career, has evolved into something more collective.

Rather than attempting to dominate every phase of play, he conserves energy, chooses his moments carefully and applies his genius where it can have the greatest impact. The result is a player who appears almost detached from the rhythm of a game before suddenly determining its outcome.

That quality was evident throughout Argentina’s semi-final victory over England.

Timing His Influence

For much of the contest, England appeared on course for a place in the final after taking the lead in the 55th minute.

Yet as the pressure mounted, Messi’s influence grew.

The veteran forward drifted away from the centre of attack and began operating from the right flank, where his range of passing and crossing became increasingly difficult for England to contain.

Argentina intensified their attacks, pinning England deep inside their own half. Messi became the conductor of the assault, repeatedly delivering dangerous balls into the penalty area and creating uncertainty in the English defence.

The breakthrough came in the 85th minute.

Spotting space on the edge of the penalty area, Messi supplied the pass that allowed Enzo Fernandez to unleash the strike that levelled the score.

Then, deep into stoppage time, came the decisive moment. Refusing to allow the ball to drift out of play, Messi kept the attack alive before producing a perfectly weighted cross that Lautaro Martinez converted with a header to send Argentina into the final.

The sequence was vintage Messi — not a dazzling solo run or spectacular goal, but a demonstration of awareness, technique and decision-making under pressure.

The Numbers Behind the Legacy

The two assists against England added another remarkable chapter to Messi’s World Cup story.

He now owns 12 World Cup assists, the highest total in the tournament’s history, alongside an extraordinary tally of 21 World Cup goals.

Those statistics underline a unique duality. Messi is both one of the greatest scorers the competition has ever seen and arguably its most accomplished creator.

His contribution at the 2026 tournament has gone far beyond the semi-final.

He scored crucial goals in Argentina’s hard-fought victories over Cape Verde and Egypt and provided another assist in the quarter-final win over Switzerland. Time and again, he has delivered when Argentina needed him most.

Perhaps most impressive is the way he has managed his workload. At 39, Messi has played every minute of Argentina’s four knockout matches, relying not on relentless running but on intelligence, positioning and experience.

The approach reflects a player who understands his body and the game better than ever.

One More Opportunity

Argentina’s victory has guaranteed Messi at least one more appearance on football’s biggest stage.

Sunday’s final against Spain now presents a compelling narrative.

A win would make Argentina the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the World Cup and would further strengthen Messi’s claim as the defining footballer of his generation.

It could also provide the perfect ending should he decide this tournament marks the conclusion of his international career.

For now, however, Argentina are not thinking about farewells.

They are focused on another World Cup crown, inspired by a captain who continues to prove that influence is not always measured by goals.

Against England, Messi showed that football’s greatest artists do not always finish the masterpiece themselves. Sometimes, they simply provide the brushstrokes that make it possible.

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SUMMARY

• Spain coach De la Fuente taught Argentina counterpart Scaloni at the RFEF coaching academy in 2017
• Scaloni says De la Fuente greatly helped coaches on the Las Rozas course
• Argentina manager lives in Mallorca and has a Spanish partner and Spain-born children

Spain swept aside France, Argentina scrambled past England and the World ​Cup final has been handed a scriptwriter’s dream: European champions against world and South American champions, with a teacher and his old ‌pupil in opposite technical areas.

Luis de la Fuente’s Spain will try to deliver the country’s second World Cup, 16 years after their first in South Africa, while Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina are seeking to become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups.

Yet beyond the familiar heavyweight billing, Sunday’s final carries a more personal twist.

After Spain’s 2-0 victory over ​France on Tuesday, and before Argentina had completed their comeback 2-1 win against England in the second semi-final the following day, De la Fuente ​raised eyebrows by saying he would be “delighted” to face Argentina.

It was not because the 65-year-old viewed them as an easier route ⁠to glory. Quite the opposite. His answer was rooted in friendship and a relationship forged years ago at the Spanish Football Association’s (RFEF) coaching academy in Las ​Rozas, where De la Fuente was a tutor and Scaloni one of his students.

It happened in 2017, two years after Scaloni ended his playing career. De la ​Fuente, then in charge of Spain’s youth teams, was among the figures who helped guide a recently retired player taking his first steps towards management.

Neither man could have imagined the lessons of Las Rozas would one day echo all the way to a World Cup final.

Scaloni spoke warmly about that period and his bond with De la Fuente at the 2024 ​Copa America.

“Luis has been a huge help to those of us who did the coaching course in Las Rozas. I’ve had chats with him, and I ​wish him all the best,” Scaloni said before Argentina’s Copa America quarter-final win over Ecuador.

The admiration has not flowed only one way. De la Fuente has described Scaloni as a ‌master, an ⁠unlikely title for a former pupil but a fitting one for the man who guided Argentina to global and continental success.

“I want Spain to do well (at the Euros), and he helped us lads who did the (coaching) course in Las Rozas a great deal. I like the way he manages things and how the players give their all for him,” Scaloni said during the tournament, which coincided with the 2024 European Championship.

Both managers would go on to lift the respective continental trophies. ​Now they meet again, not in a ​classroom, but with the biggest ⁠prize in football at stake.

SCALONI’S SPAIN CONNECTION

Scaloni’s connection with Spain runs deeper than coaching badges. His wife Elisa Montero, whom he met in 2008, is Spanish, their children were born in Spain, and they live in Mallorca.

Scaloni, now 48, also spent ​several seasons playing in Spain at Deportivo La Coruña, Racing Santander and Mallorca.

“Part of my family is Spanish and, ​naturally, I’m supporting ⁠Spain (at the Euros),” Scaloni said in 2024.

Speaking on Tuesday, after Spain reached the final and on the eve of Argentina’s semi-final, Scaloni gave a preview of the warmth — and competitive edge — that now frames the final.

“I’m happy for him (De la Fuente). He deserves it. He’s a great bloke. Everything we see in his national team is what ⁠we hope ​to see in ours,” Scaloni said in Atlanta.

“If things don’t go well for us, I’ll give ​him a call. If we play against him in the final … no. Let’s hope there’s no call until after the final …”

There will now likely be no phone call until Sunday, so sentiment must ​wait. Master and apprentice must first find out who has kept the better notes as they prepare for the final.

-Reuters

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The FIFA World Cup 2026 continues to rewrite the record books, with another unprecedented milestone emerging following the conclusion of the semi-final matches.

For the first time in World Cup history, the teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the FIFA World Ranking will face each other in the final, while the teams ranked No. 3 and No. 4 will meet in the third-place playoff.

The landmark achievement comes just days after another ranking-related record was established when the tournament’s four semi-finalists: Argentina, Spain, France and England — were revealed to be the current top four teams in the FIFA World Ranking. It marked the first occasion since the introduction of the FIFA Ranking system in 1992 that the four highest-ranked nations simultaneously reached the semi-finals of a World Cup.

With Argentina defeating England and Spain overcoming France in the semi-finals, the championship match now pits the world’s top-ranked side, Argentina, against second-ranked Spain. Meanwhile, third-ranked France and fourth-ranked England will contest the bronze-medal encounter.

The development represents a rare triumph for the ranking system, as the tournament has unfolded almost perfectly according to FIFA’s current hierarchy. Historically, World Cups have often produced surprises, with lower-ranked teams upsetting pre-tournament favourites and disrupting the expected order.

Should the rankings ultimately hold true, Argentina would successfully defend the title they won in Qatar in 2022 and become world champions for a fourth time. Spain, under that scenario, would finish as runners-up, while France would secure third place ahead of England.

For England, even a fourth-place finish would represent their best World Cup performance since reaching the semi-finals of Italia ’90 and 2018, where they eventually finished fourth after losing to host nation Italy in the third-place match in 1990 and Belgium in 2018.

As the curtain prepares to fall on the expanded 48-team tournament, World Cup 2026 has already demonstrated an extraordinary alignment between FIFA’s ranking table and results on the pitch — culminating in a final that many statisticians would describe as the ultimate meeting of the world’s two best teams.

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