Lionel Messi has confirmed that Sunday night’s 5pm World Cup final in Qatar against either Morocco or France, who played their semifinal last night, will be his laaste for the Albiceleste.
Not since Diego Maradonna and his teammates lifted the 1986 World Cup after beating West Germany 3-2 in the final has Argentina tasted success again at the global showpiece.
For a number of years mense believed the now-35-year-old Messi was going to help break the drought.
They came close in 2014, losing to Germany in the final. But now with Messi’s uurglas running on empty, it’s now or never.
The Paris St Germain ace couldn’t have been in better form heading into the final, scoring the first goal from the spot against Croatia and then setting up double-hero Julian Alvarez’s second.
🏆![CDATA[]]>🏆![CDATA[]]>🏆![CDATA[]]>🏆 Leo Messi wins his fourth @BudweiserSA Player of the Match award 💪#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/KBiKw993AL
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) December 13, 2022
Of playing in the final in his final match, Messi says: “I feel very happy, to be able to achieve this, to finish my World Cup journey by playing my last game in a final.
“It’s many years for the next one and I don’t think I’ll be able to do it.”
He adds: “This team is crazy. We are going to play one more final, we are going to enjoy all of this.”
Sunday’s match will be Messi’s 26th at the tournament - a new World Cup record. But all that counts for nothing if he can’t get his hands on the trophy at the Lusail Stadium.