Now, more than ever, Messi can claim to be the GOAT

Doha: After finally winning the World Cup, Lionel Messi made his strongest case yet to be considered soccer’s greatest player of all time.

It will never be possible to say definitively, though, even after Argentina’s 4-2 penalty shootout victory over France on Sunday (local time) in the final at Lusail Stadium.

Lionel Messi – finally – gets his hands, and his lips, on the World Cup.Credit: AP

Messi has been his country’s inspiration throughout the tournament in Qatar and scored twice in the game that finished 3-3 through extra time.

Kylian Mbappe certainly made Messi work for a golden trophy that had eluded him throughout his storied career. The France forward scored a hat-trick as the defending champions came back from 2-0 down and then evened the match again after Messi made it 3-2 in extra time.

But this was Messi’s night and Messi’s World Cup.

For some, no one will ever surpass Pele, who won the World Cup three times with Brazil. Even in Messi’s homeland of Argentina, Diego Maradona remains, for many, the country’s ultimate football icon after captaining the national team to the 1986 World Cup.

And for the past 15 years or so, Messi has had a personal rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo just to establish himself as the finest player of his generation.

Competition is fierce when it comes to determining the greatest of all time, or the GOAT, as it has come to be known. It can come down to the smallest of margins that separate players of such brilliance.

Messi’s failure to win the sport’s biggest prize has always counted against him when measuring his achievements against Pele and Maradona. The same goes for Ronaldo.

Messi is a seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or for the best player in the world and lifted club football’s biggest prize, the Champions League trophy, on four occasions. He ended his wait for a first major trophy with his country at last year’s Copa America.

The World Cup, however, is the ultimate measure of greatness and Pele and Maradona secured immortality with inspirational performances on that stage.

That had eluded Messi – until now.

He was part of the Argentina team that lost to Germany 1-0 in the 2014 final, but the magic he produced game in, game out during his peak years for Barcelona never seemed to translate when wearing the blue and white stripes of his country.

At 35 and nearing the end of his career, the tournament in Qatar was widely seen as his final shot at the World Cup. And if that is the case, he saved his best for last.

World champions Argentina.Credit: Getty Images

Messi no longer dominates over 90 minutes, but instead decides matches with moments of genius. He scored seven goals in Qatar, but, arguably, his assists have been more memorable.

His disguised pass for Nahuel Molina’s goal against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals was weighted and measured to perfection. His twisting and turning run to beat Croatia defender Joško Gvardiol and set up teammate Julian Alvarez in the semifinals felt like peak Messi, only in slow motion.

He has now surpassed Pele with 13 goals at World Cups and is tied for fourth with Just Fontaine on the all-time list. His seven in this year’s tournament surpassed Maradona’s five at the 1986 edition in Mexico.

Messi has now scored a national team-record 98 goals in 172 games. That places him third in the all-time scoring list for men’s internationals, behind Cristiano Ronaldo (118) and Ali Daei (109).

There has been a sense of destiny for Messi and Argentina.

AP

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