The voice of Frank Sinatra rang around the MetLife Stadium before the World Cup final. As he sang about facing the ‘final curtain’, the big screen showed footage of Lionel Messi holding aloft the World Cup in Qatar four years ago and being borne shoulder-high by his teammates in triumph. ‘I did it my way,’ Sinatra sang, as the Manhattan skyscrapers shimmered in the distance.
In times when football has lost itself, when it has moved away from those who love it, when it has become enslaved to money and ruled by high ticket prices, when it is led by sycophants and grifters, when it has been assailed by doubts about its integrity and its direction, Messi has always been there to redeem it, doing it his way.
This time, in the midst of this drab, angry, bitter, attritional final, doing it his way was not enough. This time, he could not redeem even his own team, who behaved with a despicable lack of grace and barely contained thuggery after the final whistle and who were utterly outclassed by Spain. Spain only won 1-0. It should have been many more.
At a World Cup afflicted by a myriad of controversies, a World Cup with a final saddled with a dirge of a half-time show and hydration breaks that are advertising breaks and President Trump calling Gianni Infantino to lobby, successfully, for Folarin Balogun’s suspension to be lifted, and $1m pitchside seats, seeing Messi play was always enough to make the heart sing.
Even at 39, the greatest player the world has ever seen, has still been the sport’s human shield. Even as Trump and Infantino have danced around the tournament like puppeteers, Messi has worked his magic, scored more goals than anyone apart from Kylian Mbappe and floated above the storms.
Spain have won the World Cup after Ferran Torres’ extra time winner against Argentina
Torres smashed in the winner with his left foot after Nico Williams headed the ball back across goal
It was elation for the Spanish players as they celebrated wildly in the corner of the stadium
But it was devastation for Argentina’s crestfallen stars, who had fought for their lives
Messi has graced his sport for more than 20 years and Argentina’s obstinate, defiant, sometimes desperate run to this World Cup final against Spain was predicated around this being ‘Leo’s last one’. They wanted to do it for him. They wanted to give him the send-off he deserved before he retreated to what remains of his club career with Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
And so Messi went to the well one last time in the blazing sunshine in New Jersey. Fifteen of his 21 tournament goals have come since his 35th birthday and even though Mbappe had moved ahead of him in the race for the Golden Boot on Saturday evening and ahead of him in the all-time World Cup list, many hoped Messi would put that right on Sunday, too.
The truth is that when Messi went to the well this time, the well was empty. This was a game too far, even for him. Tom Cruise had given a speech on the pitch before kick-off and this match turned into Messi’s mission impossible.
He was swallowed up in the mediocrity of a final that was at odds with so much of the drama that this World Cup has provided. It was dull and attritional. It was dominated by Spain, who finally turned their advantage into a winning goal in the second period of extra time.
And if many wanted Messi to win, by then not many wanted Argentina to win. They played with a mixture of unabashed thuggery and a desperate lack of ambition. They did not have a single shot in normal time, let alone a shot on target. If there was a shred of satisfaction about their defrocking, it was that it came with an overdue red card for Enzo Fernandez, their self-styled enforcer, at the end of normal time.
So Messi’s final fling fell flat. He did not end the competition with the Golden Boot, he did not win the second World Cup he craved, and he left the international stage after being able to exert precious little influence on his final match. Sport is no respecter of reputation.
Torres’ goal sparked jubilation for the thousands of Spanish fans inside the stadium
Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez had been in inspired form before that to keep Spain at bay
There was no fairytale World Cup ending for Lionel Messi who struggled to assert his authority
Enzo Fernandez was sent off at the end of normal time for a reckless second bookable offence
A melee ensued and Messi tried to get Marc Cucurella sent off for covering his mouth
Much of the talk before the game had been about a passing of the torch from Messi to Spain’s superstar teenager Lamine Yamal but even if Yamal had more influence than Messi, he has been struggling with the after-effects of a hamstring injury and could not stamp his brilliance on the game.
It was Ferran Torres who made the difference when he came on, Ferran Torres who scored the winner and Ferran Torres who thought he had scored a second before it was ruled out for offside. This was Spain’s second World Cup triumph after 2010. They only conceded one goal in the entire competition. They were the better team by a large margin here.
Yamal had the first chance of the game within the opening five minutes. A neat touch from Dani Olmo played Yamal in behind the Argentina defence but he did not hit his shot with enough power or accuracy to beat Emiliano Martinez.
Argentina had not started the game with the same furious intent they showed against England in the semi-final. Not driven by the same visceral resentment, they showed Spain far more respect and allowed them to dictate the tempo of the game.
Spain had only conceded one goal in the tournament before this game but they had a scare early on when Messi raced on to a through ball. He was clean through but Unai Simon sprinted 35 yards out of his goal to clear it and got there just ahead of Argentina’s skipper. Some felt Messi had missed an opportunity. ‘He had to put his body in and he didn’t,’ Wayne Rooney said.
Alexis Mac Allister scythed down Olmo after 15 minutes but, inexplicably, referee Slavko Vincic, chose not to show him even a yellow card. The Spain fans were infuriated. They are keenly aware of the lenient treatment Argentina have benefited from in this World Cup. ‘Infantino, Infantino,’ they jeered.
Argentina did their best to rile up Spain and there were several flashpoints between the players
Things escalated at full-time when Leandro Paredes clashed with several Spain players
The stands were filled with celebrities, including David Beckham and Tom Cruise (centre)
President Donald Trump also watched on alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino
The pair later presented the players with their medals and handed over the trophy to Spain
Justin Bieber headlined the strange half-time show, which lasted for almost half an hour
The game settled into a kind of stalemate, the antithesis of the Soccer Aid vibe that permeated England’s third-place play-off game with France the previous day. There was, at least, a ripple of surprise when the referee booked Lisandro Martinez. It was just about the only decision that had gone Spain’s way all afternoon.
The half-time show came and went in a splurge of underwhelming banality. It was much like the opening 45 minutes, in which Argentina had not managed a single shot on target. Leandro Paredes came on at the interval and was booked within a few minutes for a shove in the back of Max Baena.
Yamal made one burst to the byline midway through the second half and cut the ball back for substitute Ferran Torres. Torres leapt well on the edge of the six-yard box but could only direct his header straight at a grateful Emiliano Martinez.
As the game approached extra time, Argentina imploded. More particularly, Enzo Fernandez imploded. Already on a yellow card, he launched himself into a tackle on Pau Cubarsi and caught the defender’s trailing foot. Cubarsi cart-wheeled into the air and Fernandez was shown a second yellow. It felt like a little karma for the rough-house tactics he had inflicted on England in Atlanta and for which he had escaped without punishment.
Increasingly, only Emiliano Martinez kept Argentina in the game. He saved well from a Yamal free kick and then, early in extra time, from a glancing header by Nico Williams. Spain thought they had scored when Martinez spilled the ball under a challenge but VAR ruled that he had been fouled. It felt like another generous decision towards Argentina.
Spain missed the best chance of the match when Arsenal’s Mikel Merino glanced a header wide from close range near the end of the first half of extra time but they finally broke the deadlock after 106 minutes when Williams nodded the ball back to Torres and Torres smashed the ball past Emiliano Martinez.
Their victory was to be celebrated. Messi’s retreat into the twilight was much to be mourned.
