It seems fitting that what is likely to be Lionel Messi’s final match with Argentina is a World Cup final as his side take on France in an attempt to win their first World Cup since 1986.
😅 "Everybody wants to do it for 20 years… and very few manage to do it"
Arsène Wenger talks to @gabrielclarke05 about how France can stop Lionel Messi 🇦🇷🇫🇷#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/dMzheHqpgm
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) December 18, 2022
Qatari tournament chiefs have announced that they want to host a parade along Lusail Boulevard for the winners once the trophy celebrations have taken place inside the stadium, with Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni admitting a World Cup win “could be the best possible stage for Messi to say goodbye.”
Messi himself was asked after the 3-0 semi-final win over Croatia whether the final would be his last World Cup match, to which he responded: “Surely, yes. There are many years until the next one and I don’t think I will be able to do that and ending this way is the best.
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“There is a lot of happiness, being able to achieve this, ending my World Cup career, playing my last game in a final.”
Messi’s only international success with Argentina to date is lifting the 2021 Copa America, where they beat Brazil 1-0 in the final, so a World Cup would truly be the icing on what is already a very sweet cake in terms of Messi’s glittering football career, both domestically and on the international stage.