Now The Greatest Footballer Of All Time

The bright beauty of the Lusail Stadium feels almost in the middle of nowhereness. And it’s in that stadium, France came out of nowhere, after being outplayed for 80 minutes, to launch a comeback that would be remembered after decades.

It’s in the same Lusail Stadium that the footballing gods finally smiled on the genius of Lionel Messi, who along with his band of ‘muchahos’, takes the World Cup back to Argentina after 1986

This makes no sense. Messi, at the age of 35, did what few would have expected of him. He had lost a lot of speed and was always surrounded by players as soon as he got the ball. On top of that, this Argentina side were far from perfect, with several gaping holes. However, they had one thing which no other team had, Lionel Messi. 

For over a decade, the Argentine has been touted as a candidate for the title of the ‘Greatest Of All Time’ (G.O.A.T.). And what Messi did in Qatar has surely got him the title. Make no mistakes; what we saw in the last month might never be repeated in our lifetime. 

It is a story we see in Hollywood thriller movies with the protagonist winning at the last possible moment to get the audience on their feet and leave their opponents in utter shock. 

However, the story, which ended on a high, has seen several lows, shocks and heartbreaks starting more than 16 years back. And we take you to the impressive journey that took Lionel Messi across four continents, a distance of more than 36,000 kilometres and a total of 26 matches and four heartbreaks. 

THE FOOTBALLING GODS SMILING AT LEO #MESSI TONIGHT 😍🔥

🏆 10x La Liga
🏆 7x Copa del Rey
🏆 4x Champions League
🏆 7x Spanish Super Cup
🏆 3x UEFA Super Cup
🏆 3x Club World Cup
🏆 21/22 Ligue 1
🏆 2021 Copa America
🏆 7x Ballon D’or

And THEN

🏆 2022 #WORLDCUP

G.O.A.T. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/RNccS34E0i

— FootTheBall FC (@FootTheBallFC) December 18, 2022

FIFA World Cup 2006- A star is born 

In 2006, Argentina arrived with a solid quad boasting the likes of Hernan Crespo, Carlos Tevez, 

Juan Roman Riquelme, Javier Mascherano and Roberto Ayala. However, there was also an 18-year-old Messi in that squad. The teenager was making a name for himself in Barcelona and was regarded as a future star. 

However, he was not a guaranteed starter and spent the entirety of the first match against Ivory Coast on the bench. However, in the second match, with Argentina leading 3-0 against Serbia & Montenegro, head coach Jose Pekerman sent him…