Lusail, Qatar | Lionel Messi had to wait and wait and wait. He had to wait until he was reaching the sunset of his glittering, glorious career. He had to wait until he had already tasted the sting of defeat in a World Cup final.

He had to wait even after he seemed to have inspired Argentina’s soccer team to beat France in this year’s final on Sunday (Monday AEDT), first in regulation time, then again in extra time.