Irish Examiner view: Messi made us wait, but thrilled us with a magical World Cup swansong

Towards the end of his illustrious career, Lionel Messi secured his lifelong ambition of a World Cup triumph for Argentina

Argentina's Lionel Messi effortlessly puts the ball past French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris during the penalty shootout that decided the Fifa World Cup final at Lusail Stadium, Qatar yesterday. Picture: Nick Potts/PA

One of the most memorable soccer World Cup finals of all time — some people say it was the greatest, although opinions may have changed after yesterday — took place in Mexico 52 years ago, when one player was recognised as the finest in the history of the game. 

That man was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known globally as Pelé, and Brazil’s 4-1 trouncing of Italy was regarded as the summit of his career.

Yesterday, as Ángel Di María swept in Argentina’s second goal with the same brio as Carlos Alberto did in 1970, it seemed to become the moment to acknowledge the apotheosis of the reign of another football monarch, and another South American, Lionel Messi.

Pelé was 29 in 1970. But Messi had to wait until the age of 35 to take the supreme prize in sport. And as elder statesman of the Albiceleste he has won, since 2019, the Copa America, the inaugural Finalissima at Wembley, and now the principal international competition for what used to be known as the Jules Rimet trophy, named after the Frenchman who created the tournament and the governing body, Fifa.

Argentina's Lionel Messi (golden ball award) and keeper Emiliano Martinez (golden glove) with France's Kylian Mbappé (golden boot) who may inherit Messi's mantle. But not yet. Picture: Nick Potts/PA

Although we were kept waiting for 120 pulsating minutes, for Messi all questions have been answered and all doubts banished. He departs as the greatest. 

For his heir apparent and current club team-mate, Kylian Mbappé, despite a stunning hat-trick, his time is not now. But it is coming. There can only be one king.

For Qatar, it has been an astonishing World Cup in terms of matchplay drama but questions remain as to whether the promises its leaders have made about legacy will be fulfilled and whether any progress will be made about inclusiveness and human rights once the captains and kings have moved on.

 That will have implications for the next time it wishes to deploy its sovereign wealth in world sport, probably at a desert Olympics. Fifa itself remains a deeply controversial and in many ways unpleasant organisation, the proclamations of president Gianni Infantino some of the low points of the past six weeks. His organisation looks to be on a collision course with Uefa, ruling body of professional clubs, over drastic expansions in match tournaments and timetables.

For now, what is live in the memory is the drama of a final where the script seemed to be written in favour of Messi. In the longer term, Qatar 2022 may be seen as the moment power shifted in the world of football to a different form of future.