FIFA’s World Cup has increasingly become a celebration not just of football but of football as entertainment.
So, on the eve of the final, the governing body transformed the Javits Center beside the Hudson into a fan show. Hundreds queued for hours and paid between USD 60-80 to watch Lionel Messi, Lionel Scaloni, Emiliano Martínez, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente and captain Rodri share a stage with Novak Djokovic, Tom Brady and Kevin Durant, who swapped their sporting greatness for the role of celebrity interviewers. Rio Ferdinand and comedian Kevin Hart played masters of ceremonies, filling the gaps with jokes and banter to ensure that the crowd felt their tickets were worthwhile.
For FIFA, which has spent this tournament monetising almost every available minute from sponsored water breaks to introducing a 30-minute halftime for Sunday’s Super Bowl-style show, it was another reminder that the World Cup has become as much about the spectacle as it is about the sport.
Messi, who skipped the official FIFA press conference upstairs where Martínez represented Argentina, as he had before the final in Qatar four years ago, answered gentle questions from Brady and Djokovic. The loudest laugh came when Brady brought up the famous photograph of a 20-year-old Messi bathing an infant Lamine Yamal during a Barcelona charity photoshoot.
“Lamine is truly amazing,” Messi said. “I’ve followed him a lot because he plays for a club I love so much. He has a chance to achieve something historic. We’re going to try to make sure that doesn’t happen this time.”
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“We’ll try to put on a good match,” he added with a smile, “but I hope he and his team don’t put on a good one.”
The most memorable moment, though, came after the microphones were switched off. Scaloni walked over to De la Fuente, his former coaching instructor, and embraced him warmly.
Later, the Argentina coach laughed about the unusual setting. “I told Luis I came because of him,” Scaloni said. “I came to this event because Luis was there. I respect and admire him so much.”
The loudest laugh of the event came when Tom Brady brought up the famous photograph of a 20-year-old Messi bathing an infant Lamine Yamal during a Barcelona charity photoshoot. | Photo Credit: AP
It was a fitting line for an afternoon that felt surreal. Football’s greatest player chatted with Brady, Djokovic and Durant downstairs while, two floors above, the accredited media, many of whom had travelled almost as extensively as the finalists themselves across this sprawling World Cup, were once again denied the opportunity to question the captain of an Argentina side standing one victory away from becoming only the second nation to successfully defend the World Cup.
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Published on Jul 18, 2026