Messi completed football - so why play another World Cup?

Lionel Messi Argentina GFX

Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni included Lionel Messi in his 2026 World Cup squad on Thursday, even though his captain isn't "fully fit". Of course, neither revelation was particularly surprising. Messi was widely expected to be a part of his the Albiceleste's title defence - just as it was always unlikely that he'd been in optimal physical condition.

Messi is 38 years of age, and will turn 39 later this month, so it was hardly a shock to learn via Inter Miami that he's presently suffering from "overload associated with muscle fatigue in his left hamstring". That particular muscle has been under an awful lot of strain for more than two decades.

It, thus, seems logical to ask why Messi is still pushing his body to the limit at a time when most footballers have already retired? It's not like he has anything left to prove - or achieve. He basically completed football by winning the last World Cup in Qatar - and in such dominant fashion that he ended the GOAT debate once and for all.

Is there really anything for Messi to gain, then, from competing in a sixth finals? Or is he now so secure in his status as a living legend that he feels he has absolutely nothing to lose?...

Argentina v France: Final - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

Dream realised

Most players don't get to choose when their international career ends. The decision is usually taken out of their hands - often by a coach, but sometimes by injury.

Even those lucky enough to make the call themselves are rarely quite so fortunate to go out on top. For Messi, though, the opportunity was there for him to retire on the ultimate high, after winning the World Cup.

Lifting the trophy had always been his primary objective, and his inability to emulate Diego Maradona by leading his nation to victory on the game's grandest stage had long been used as a stick with which to beat him, as if it somehow detracted from an unrivalled spell of sustained excellence.

However, just when it appeared as if Messi's "childhood dream" had died after Argentina's last-16 elimination at Russia 2018, he made it come true in utterly unbelievable circumstances in Qatar.

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Surreal genius

What Messi did in 2022 defied the laws of physics. He was 35 at the time and yet he ran rings around players 15 years his junior - like Josko Gvardiol, who was honoured rather than embarrassed by the experience.

"Tomorrow I will be able to tell the children that I marked Messi for 90 minutes," the defender said after Croatia's semi-final loss to Argentina in Lusail.

Gvardiol was far from the only opponent who felt privileged to have shared the pitch with a player who seemed too talented to be true. "He looks fake on the field," Australia's Keanu Baccus admitted. "It's surreal how good he actually is."

Messi's mind-blowing performances were made all the more remarkable for the fact they were produced under unbelievable pressure. After arriving in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run, Copa America champions Argentina were on the brink of an embarrassingly early elimination after suffering a shock loss to Saudi Arabia in their tournament-opener, meaning Messi's captaincy credentials were once again called into question.

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Pure Hollywood

However, when his nation needed him most, Messi answered Argentina's call, making the crucial breakthrough in the must-win meeting with Mexico and went on to become the first man to score in the group stage, last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, as the Albiceleste won their first World Cup since 1986 - which was just so fitting, because not since Maradona had a single player dominated the finals to such a degree.

After picking up his fifth Player of the Match award in eight games, Messi really couldn't have hoped for a happier ending. It was pure Hollywood, and he even ended up sounding like the good guy that had finally got the girl.

"It's madness," he told TyC while holding the trophy, "look how gorgeous she is! I wanted her so much. I had a vision that this would be the one... She was getting closer.

"I was lucky to have achieved everything in this career... And this one that was missing is here. I wanted to close my career with this. I can no longer ask for anything else, thank God, he gave me everything." And yet Messi decided against riding off into the sunset.

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Basking in the glory

Having waited so long to get his hands on the World Cup, Messi was perhaps unsurprisingly in no rush to let go of it.

"I am going to take the trophy back to Argentina to enjoy it with you," he told the fans watching back home, in the aftermath of arguably the greatest final ever played. "I love what I do, I love being in the national team, and I want to continue living a few more games being world champion."

He'd certainly earned that right. He'd given everything for his moment of glory; he was perfectly entitled to bask in it.

What followed, though, was no mere victory lap. It quickly became clear that Messi wanted more medals. He had no intention of walking away. His underestimated will to win was as strong as ever.

However, the main reason why Messi continued playing for Argentina was that he was enjoying it so much.

Argentina Press Conference And Training Session

The Scaloni factor

Winning the World Cup obviously changed everything for Messi. It removed a burden he'd been carrying since he was first anointed Maradona's heir by the man himself. Victory had set him free. However, Messi was the first to admit that for all his individual excellence in Qatar, it was very much a team effort - and that's why it meant the world to him.

Until Lionel Scaloni's appointment as Argentina coach, he'd never before experienced such a deep bond with a coach or indeed a group of players.

"I think from day one he established an idea, and the best thing he did - beyond how he experiences the game or how he sets up matches - is his closeness to the group," Messi told ESPN last December. "The way he treats players, the way he connects with each of them, because he knows them as people and knows how to talk to each one, because he built this team himself, bringing in new players, even players who weren't well known in Argentine football.

"We're an amazing group that gets along very well, but in training matches or certain drills, if they have to go hard, they go hard. Everyone gives their all, and that's a huge strength of this group and this national team.

"Scaloni and his staff built all of this. The day-to-day atmosphere comes from them." Messi obviously played his part too, though.

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One final job for 'Messi's 11'

For all the criticism of his captaincy, Messi unquestionably grew into his leadership role over the years, meaning he went from being an infamously quiet character who preferred to let his left foot do the talking for him, to aiming verbal volleys at 6'6" opponents in the tunnel after games. This was a side of the world's greatest player that most of us had never seen before, but his team-mates had - and they loved him for it.

Emiliano Martinez famously described the players as "lions who fight for Messi" and Julian Alvarez admitted ahead of the last Copa America that the entire squad was delighted to still have their beloved skipper on board because he just makes everything "better".

Argentina had essentially become a band of brothers - or, as the inimitable Jorge Valdano said, the footballing equivalent of 'Ocean's 11'.

"I saw a photo the players getting off the bus, Messi at the head, the rest behind him, flanking him in a triangle - that has a symbolic value that went without comment but explains what Argentina is," the 1986 World Cup winner told The Guardian. "You see the happiness that Leo has: he’s liberated."

There was still some doubt over whether he'd play on until 2026. After all, Messi's 2024 Copa America campaign had been curtailed by injury; his World Cup could be too.

For Scaloni, though, including Messi is a no-brainer. Even at 38, he's still scoring goals and picking out passes that nobody else can even see let alone pull off, while his influence over the rest of the group is something Scaloni says he's never seen before - which is why he was even talking about saving a spot in his 2026 squad for Messi all the way back in 2022.

There is a fear in some quarters that Messi risks tarnishing his legacy in the States, but it's hard to see how. Unlike his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo, he's already won the World Cup. Nothing can detract from what he's already done. He completed football four years ago; now he's just enjoying it.