It is anyone’s game on Messi’s big night

Lionel Messi and Argentina have enjoyed a somewhat strange relationship in the past. By all accounts, he’s been the preeminent footballer of his generation, and by many accounts the best of all time. Yet, his own country has taken its time to fully warm to his greatness. 

Partly, as Jonathan Wilson explained in his book,  Angels With Dirty Faces: The Footballing History of Argentina, this is down to the country’s deep-rooted adoration for Diego Maradona. Or as the novelist Eduardo Sacheri memorably put it, “It isn’t Messi’s fault that we Argentineans are incapable of ending our mourning for Diego.” 

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This love for Maradona over Messi in some ways transcends the game — the bias, arguably, has more to do with issues of class and persona and the ability of fans to relate to their players. Maradona, as Wilson noted, is seen as the ultimate  pibe — something which the journalist Borocoto defined as a “liminal figure, the urchin who will make his way through life with a combination of charm and cunning”. He was thought of as the player who defined the basic Argentinean tenet, who defined their cultural spirit, their way of life. 

Messi, on the other hand, was for long viewed as a more distant figure, as a player of ethereal ability no doubt, but still somehow, for Argentineans, “not one of us”. This attitude, though, has changed in recent times. When Argentina won the Copa America last year, defeating Brazil at the Maracana, Messi had become a more beloved figure. And now with this World Cup seen as his last possible chance to achieve the ultimate triumph, the fans appear to be fully behind him. 

So often in his career, the pressure of carrying Argentina to victory has weighed heavily on Messi. But this time he seems to have found a balance between fortitude and joy. He’s part of an Argentinean side that are far from perfect. But they have a more resolute goalkeeper and a defensive structure that is built around giving him the greatest possible freedom — Messi’s is a free role in the tradition of the most legendary  enganches, the number 10s, the playmakers, of Argentinean history. 

When the opponent has the ball, Messi rarely does anything of note. He’s almost non-existent on defensive transitions. Indeed, making himself invisible seems to be part of the plan — for much of the 90 minutes, Messi merely moves around, at walking pace, between the centre circle and the right wing. But the moment his team wins the ball back and finds him, he darts to life. Consider his assists in the quarterfinal and semifinal at Qatar — the first a sparkling run through the middle of the field, followed by a no-look through ball; and the second, a piece of genius, where he twisted and turned Croatia’s Josko Gvardiol — who’s been the best defender at the tournament — on at least three occasions before laying it off for a finish. 

In what is a bit of a paradox, though, Argentina’s biggest strength is also a bit of a weakness. Messi’s free role means that they necessarily must play either an extra midfielder or shift to a system involving three centre-backs. Amidst that midfield there simply isn’t the kind of quality that allows Argentina to control games through possession of the ball. What this means is that they’re invariably trying to suck opponents in and then aiming at hitting them through moments of brilliance.

The French challenge

France, whom Argentina will face in the final, aren’t an entirely dissimilar side. Didier Deschamps is the arch-pragmatist. His team is built to get the best out of his team’s own superstar, Kylian Mbappe. Deschamps, who’s won the World Cup both as captain and manager — in 1998 and 2018, respectively — realises that tournament football demands defensive cohesion more than anything else. To that end, his team is built around a flat back four — with only one full back, Theo Hernandez really allowed to forage forward, and two defensively solid midfielders. In Antoine Griezmann, France also have a player who’s transformed himself from a forward into a hybrid-playmaker. Griezmann works tremendously hard off the ball, and when France win possession, invariably manages to find space between the lines of the opponent, at different spots across the breadth of the pitch. And from there, his movement, his vision, and his ability on the ball make him a real threat, as we saw both in the quarterfinal against England and in the semifinal against Morocco. 

But like Argentina, France aren’t without weaknesses. Mbappe for all his explosive strengths isn’t the most defensively conscious player. That Hernandez, the full back on his wing, is also prone to being caught up field means that there could be space on France’s left for Argentina to attack. This is something that both England in the quarterfinal, through Bukayo Saka, and Morocco in the semifinal, through Achraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech, did well. With Messi’s preference for that wing, it’s a space that could again prove productive for France’s opponent. But Deschamps knows that if his midfield can help out, and if his centre-backs stay solid — as they have for much of the tournament — the team’s overall balance can counteract any defensive vulnerability on its left. 

All of this makes Sunday’s final a fascinating contest. Which way it’ll go is impossible to predict.