Lionel Messi defines his World Cup legacy in Qatar

“Yes. Surely, yes.”

With three words, Lionel Messi confirmed what was already suspected. The Qatar World Cup, which starts on November 20, will be the last of his career. The ultimate opportunity to define what your legacy will be in the tournament that is the holy grail of world football.

This is another pressure on Argentina, which will arrive in the Middle East as one of the favorites.

The question had been whether the next World Cup would be his farewell. Messi felt free to respond because he was talking to Sebastián “Pollo” Vignolo, narrator and presenter for ESPN Argentina. One of the press people he has the best relationship with.

At the height of the national team’s crisis during the World Cup in Russia four years ago, it was to Vignolo that the striker gave his only exclusive interview during the competition. It took place minutes after the dramatic victory over Nigeria, which ensured qualification for the round of 16.

It wasn’t hard to imagine shirt 10’s world-class farewell in Qatar. He is 35 years old. When the 2026 World Cup begins, to be divided by the United States, Canada and Mexico, he will be about to turn 39.

“I’m counting the days. There’s a bit of anxiety and nervousness at the same time. The nervousness is like we’re already there, as to what’s going to happen. It’s the last one. I can’t wait for it to arrive, but on the other hand, there are the fear of wanting everything to go well”, he explained.

Giving the most important title of all to one of the greatest players of all time (for the likes of Guardiola and Xavi, the greatest) puts more pressure on Argentina under Lionel Scaloni.

Unbeaten for 35 games, champion of the 2021 Copa América, with a solid defense for the first time since 2014, the team will start the competition as one of the main forces, alongside Brazil and France. Messi’s farewell will increase attention to the team, which is in Group C alongside Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland.

“We are in a good moment because of the way things happened. We have a very well-armed, very strong squad. In a World Cup, anything can happen. All matches are very difficult. That’s why the World Cup is so difficult and special, not always the favorites are the ones that end up winning or taking the expected path”, he said.

For all Argentina’s squad and for Messi himself it was a relief to win the Copa America last year. Having been at Maracanã and against the Brazilian team just made it all better. It was the first achievement by the national team of the six-time best player on the planet. But that doesn’t compare to the World Cup.

In Qatar, he will define how his image will be linked to the tournament.

His first participation was at the age of 19, in 2006. He was not José Pekerman’s starter in a team lined with great strikers. The attacking duo was formed by Hernán Crespo and Javier Saviola. There was Carlos Tevez. Messi scored his first World Cup goal in the 6-0 rout of Serbia and Montenegro. When Argentina went down in the quarter-finals against Germany, he spent the full 120 minutes on the bench. Something that was a reason for criticism of the coach.

“People don’t know, but Leo was injured. That’s why he didn’t come in”, explained Pekerman later.

Four years later, in South Africa, he arrived as the best on the planet and under the direction of Diego Maradona. The 1986 world champion wanted Messi to loosen up more, be more of a leader. Extremely shy at the time, the player was unable to take the lead, Argentina lost again to Germany and once again in the quarterfinals. He said goodbye to the Cup without scoring goals.

“Messi is so shy that it’s easier to schedule an audience with God than to make him talk on the phone”, defined Maradona, in one of his memorable phrases about his countryman. It was an unfavorable comparison, in that sense, in relation to Cristiano Ronaldo, who was looser and more extroverted.

Not that the Portuguese was immune to the criticism of the 1986 world champion.

“Cristiano Ronaldo scores a goal and then sells you a shampoo”, he compared, mocking the marketing actions of the European ace.

Lionel Messi could have reached the top of the mountain in 2014 in Brazil. With Alejandro Sabella as coach, Argentina went to the final against the well-known Germany. The result was the same as the others: defeat. Shirt 10 had a ball at his feet, with the score at 0 to 0, at the entrance of the area, from where he almost always hits the goal. Almost. That time it kicked out.

“It was my happiest time with the national team”, he defined, who went on to say that he would no longer play for Argentina after the two runners-up in Copa America finals against Chile, in 2015 and 2016. of 2018.

With a confused Jorge Sampaoli and a split coaching staff at the concentration in Bronitsi, in the Russian countryside, Argentina had a mediocre Cup and Messi was unable to stand out. Surrounded by rumors even about an alleged marital crisis, he seemed on the verge of depression. The team fell in the round of 16, against France, after barely making it past the group stage.

He has six goals scored, in total, in the competition that is the biggest stage in football.

“We have to go little by little and start by winning the first match, which is fundamental. It will be the first World Cup for many kids. [da seleção]. It won’t be easy, we have to go little by little,” he told ESPN Argentina.