Lionel Messi has enough magic left to help Argentina retain the World Cup this summer in what is expected to be his swansong at the global finals.
That is the view of Pablo Zabaleta, the former Manchester City captain, who is a close friend of Messi’s and won 58 caps alongside him for the national team.
Zabaleta, 41, made the last of his Argentina appearances in 2016, having played alongside Messi for 10 years, including at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Back then, Messi was the subject of criticism as his Argentina career had failed to hit the heights of his club exploits with Barcelona. Success at the 2021 Copa America started to change attitudes before World Cup glory at Qatar 2022 elevated him to divine status back home.
La Albiceleste have continued to thrive. The 2024 Copa America was captured, while the team finished nine points clear at the top of South American qualifying for this summer’s finals.
Zabaleta himself was close to joining Messi at the tournament. He serves as assistant to his former City teammate Sylvinho in charge of the Albania national team, who lost to Poland in the Uefa qualifying playoffs.
Instead, he will work as a member of Fifa's official technical committee, and remains confident that Argentina can follow Italy (1934, 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962) in becoming only the third nation to retain the trophy.
“Even after all the success, winning the World Cup and that period of winning 39 games [Argentina went 36 games unbeaten before losing to Saudi Arabia at the 2022 World Cup], you can still see that the players have the hunger and the competitiveness to continue to do well for the national team,” Zabaleta told The National.
“[There is a] new generation now coming through, but being led by [Nicolas] Otamendi, Messi, you know, [Rodrigo] De Paul, [Leandro] Paredes. And, I don't know, I'm quite optimistic about Argentina for the World Cup.”
Messi remains the heartbeat of the team. But, as Zabaleta points out, coach Lionel Scaloni's tactics have evolved to cover for his diminishing physical output – Messi will turn 39 on June 24, in between Argentina’s group games against Austria and Jordan.
During his pomp, he'd roam freely and seamlessly blend roles as both the team’s playmaker and chief goal threat. However, these days he tends to hover just outside the opposition box or drift into his favoured right-hand channel, looking to conserve energy and take up positions where he can burst into life and inflict maximum damage.
As Zabaleta explains, whereas a younger Messi would go hunting for the ball, the team is now built to serve him so that he can deliver the final action – whether that be a killer pass or a lethal finish.
“If you see the MLS games these days, the players around Messi [at Inter Miami], I think it's a bit similar to what we have seen now in the national team,” he said.
“You know, it is Messi surrounded by players that want to do well for Messi. They want to run as much as they can for Messi. And then he's the main man for those moments of magic or that creativity he brings into the team – if you let Messi get a ball in the final third outside the box, he's still really good, or good enough to dribble past two, three players and put the ball in the top corner.
“Obviously, we don't have the Messi of five years ago that maybe he can drop deep and get a ball, you know, on the halfway line and just run as before.
“But I think if the team manages to find a way to rest off the ball, but then when they get back in possession, they can find him in a good position, he still can do the rest.
“He still has that quality to win games, to score goals. At the end of the day, that's all you need at the World Cup, is to win games.”
Either way, Zabaleta says the tournament – almost certainly Messi’s last World Cup – should be celebrated as a final chance to watch him on the biggest stage.
Nobody has played more games at the finals than Messi, with 26. That number could rise as high as 34 should Argentina go all the way in what will be their number 10’s sixth World Cup.
“Being realistic, I think we need to enjoy it because it could be Messi's last World Cup,” Zabaleta added. “Hopefully, he still has that moment of magic to win games and [to] win the World Cup. Why not?”
