For 120 minutes, Spain did what no other team at this World Cup had managed.
It found a way to keep Lionel Messi quiet.
The plan was simple in theory but brutally difficult in practice. Every time the 39-year-old drifted towards the right flank, another red shirt arrived. His every passing lane closed and every familiar slalom towards his left foot was met by bodies rather than space.
“The first idea was to keep Messi at bay,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente admitted afterwards. He has learned his lessons when a 16-year-old Messi had terrorised his Sevilla team in an under-19 match in 2004.
READ | MetLife’s cruel circle: Where Messi broke, returned and perhaps said goodbye
But here rather than man-marking the Argentine talisman, the Spanish coach looked at cutting the supply and isolate Messi. The Argentine captain managed only 15 touches in the first half and 54 across the entire final. There was no trademark curling finish, no defence-splitting pass, no decisive intervention.
The overwhelming majority of the 80,663 spectators had come hoping to witness another coronation. They wanted to see the man who had already given them one of football’s greatest endings add one final chapter by lifting a second World Cup.
Instead, the faithful watched him leave in tears.
It was in MetLife in 2016, when Messi had missed in the Copa América final shootout against Chile and announced his international retirement before making a comeback | Photo Credit: REUTERS
It was here in MetLife in 2016, when Messi had missed in the Copa América final shootout against Chile and announced his international retirement before making a comeback 47 days later to complete his redemption arc. Ten years later, he returned to the same stadium seeking one final crown, only for it to deny him again.
As Spain celebrated at the centre circle, Messi and his teammates walked towards the Argentina supporters gathered behind the southern goal. The applause that greeted them was as loud as anything heard all evening. Spain’s players, too, understood the moment. Several, including Lamine Yamal, crossed the pitch to embrace Messi after the final whistle. Later, as Argentina climbed the podium to collect their runners-up medals, the new world champions formed a guard of honour. A few patted him on the back, Messi tried to smile, but the disappointment was hard to contain.
One match, however, cannot rewrite a career.
Messi celebrated winning the World Cup in 2022. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
Messi leaves the World Cup as its most enduring presence with 34 appearances, 23 victories, 21 goals, 27 matches as captain, seven goals from outside the penalty area, 10 knockout-stage assists and, above all, the man who finally completed football’s greatest story by lifting the trophy in 2022. He remains the only player to score in every knockout round of a World Cup-winning campaign.
Spain may have denied him one final triumph, but no one can take away the imprint he has left on this tournament. For generations to come, the World Cup’s story will be retold through many champions, but few names will echo as deeply as that of Lionel Messi’s.
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Published on Jul 20, 2026