Read for 5 minutesAtlantaUpdated: 16 July 2026 09:08 PM IST
Lionel Messi smiled when asked about meeting Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday. “I have faced many of them, and I still follow them. Many of them play for Barcelona, a club that I love and follow.”
For almost 15 years, Messi was the heartbeat of Barcelona, his philosophy dissolved into a human figure, the most famous footballer in Spain, and the only one in Spain who wished he was one of them.
Before his career began, the Spanish Football Federation considered forcing him to switch allegiance to Spain. But Messi was strong even as a teenager. He would only turn up for Argentina, even though he left his hometown of Rosario when he was 12, adjusting to life in Barcelona and being Spanish like his teammates.
Also read | Forty years after the hand of God, England met the right foot of God
He also took Spanish citizenship, like many who registered under the European Union quota for the club, bought a house and land, but retained an Argentinian accent. “They ask me why I don’t have a Spanish accent and it’s simple: I don’t want to lose any identity of my country. There were informal contacts to see if I wanted to play for Spain, but I always said I wanted to play for Argentina and I just felt these colors,” he once said.
For most Spanish players, especially Barcelona players, this is a dream and a nightmare come true at the same time. Most of them idolized him growing up; One of them, Lamine Yamal, a scholar, was photographed with Messi for an advertising shoot when he was two months old. Danny Olmo still has the picture hanging in his bedroom. Mikel Oyarzabal watched, and still watches, Messi videos. “It’s been an education, but every time I see him, I’m mesmerized.”
In Sunday’s final, they’ll be tasked with defeating them, preventing them from becoming the geniuses they love, suppressing their fanboys and denying them a second straight title. Some of them will rise up against their fellows; Six Argentine players call La Liga their home and will be team-mates again for their clubs a fortnight after the World Cup.
Story continues below this ad
A strange situation has also arisen for the managers. Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni spent nearly a decade in Spain with various clubs, most notably Deportivo La Coruna. He met his wife in Spain and took baby steps to train under Spanish manager Luis de la Fuente.
“Luis has helped a lot for those of us who have done the coaching course in Las Rosas. I have chatted with him and he has helped us guys who have done the (coaching) course in Las Rosas a lot. I like the way he manages things and how the players give everything for him,” he said ahead of Argentina’s quarter-final match.
Both have similar personalities, withdrawn and not in the limelight. Both were uncelebrated in their respective countries until they started landing big trophies. The legendary Diego Maradona once chided Scaloni: “Good boy, but he can’t control traffic.”
De la Fuente was chosen because it came relatively cheap.
Story continues below this ad
There are similar strains in their coaching ideals, even if they are not identical. Spain have a range of technically gifted, fluid players capable of quick transitional play. They are almost flawless in their set-up, with clinical forwards, an intelligent midfield and a defense that doesn’t succumb to cynical challenges or career-stopping injuries. Even the already gifted French forwards and Kylian Mbappe couldn’t unravel them. They made them completely irrelevant, starving them of space and passing outlets.
Their backline has been breached just once in seven games. This will be Argentina’s biggest challenge – breaking Spain’s incredible symphony.
Argentina, on the other hand, were stretched in every knockout match, surviving by the skin of their teeth. Every game, they flirted with the danger of crashing out. But somehow, they found courage and created the spark not to surrender. Structurally, they may be defective; In terms of personnel, they are no match for Spain; But he risked his life not to give up. Argentina cannot be beaten until the whistle blows. As England and Egypt admit, they are on the rebound. Scaloni summed up the philosophy that drives them: “This team plays best in the face of adversity. The opponent feels a little hesitant, we smell blood and we go for it. That’s the feeling I’m left with.”
At the center of their comeback was a man who knew Spain better than anyone else in the Spanish team, a man once coveted by Spain, adored by most Spaniards. But for one evening, they want Messi to fail — and for one evening, Messi doesn’t mind Spain’s tears.