What it means to watch a Brighton player win the World Cup
SEALED WITH A KISS: Argentina's Alexis Mac Allister kisses the World Cup trophy before the ceremony following FIFA World Cup final at Lusail Stadium, Qatar. Picture date: Sunday December 18, 2022. PA Photo. See PA story WORLDCUP Final. Photo credit should read: Mike Egerton/PA Wire.
When Lionel Messi completed his trophy collection on Sunday, it was celebrated by a sea of blue and white in Argentina.
When Alexis Mac Allister held the World Cup, it was similarly celebrated by a sea of white and blue, but this time by the sea in south east England.
Before that, Brighton & Hove Albion fans cheered hard for Angel Di Maria’s goal, watching their very own No 10 receive a one-touch pass from Julian Alvarez and place it perfectly across the box to help Argentina take a 2-0 lead against holders France.
A Brighton player in a World Cup final? Unheard of. A Brighton player becoming an integral part of the winning team and assisting in a World Cup final? Unthinkable.
In an interview with The Athletic earlier this year, Mac Allister said: “It was magic when my dad played with Maradona and I with Lionel Messi.” Now he has won a World Cup with him.
But what does it all mean to see a Brighton player win in a World Cup final? Mac Allister made history on Sunday as the first Brighton player to participate in a World Cup final, never mind winning one.
To put the achievement in perspective, Brighton’s next-most successful players at international level are probably England pair Adam Lallana and Danny Welbeck, who both won their most recent caps before joining the club; and the last time Brighton won a trophy was 11 years ago — when they were crowned champions of League One, the English game’s third tier.
To make the narrative sweeter for Brighton fans, 23-year-old Mac Allister never lost a game he played in during the tournament, having not featured in Argentina’s opening 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia.
Even better, Mac Allister was important. He was not on the bench for his country. He did not come on as a sub for tired legs with a game long won, or lost.
He was vital to Argentina’s success, a menace in midfield, showcasing the skills and vision he oozes in the similar shirt of Brighton.
This is a milestone. A moment in Brighton’s legacy. It shows just how far the club have come.
In the late 1990s, a year and a half before Mac Allister was born, Brighton lost their beloved Goldstone Ground stadium and were a goal away from dropping out of the English Football League and the possible extinction of the club.
Today, they are 85 places in the 92-team footballing ladder above where they ended that day in May 1997.
They are in the top tier of English football. And they have a World Cup winner returning to the ranks at some point in the next week or so who won it playing alongside one of the greatest footballers in the sport’s history.
The feeling? It’s pride, it’s disbelief and, most of all, it’s reward for and recognition of Brighton’s journey.
Before he arrived at Brighton just over three years ago, Mac Allister could only dream of World Cup glory while playing for Buenos Aires side Argentinos Juniors in the Primera Division back home.
His subsequent success is credit to his determination but also the excellent scouting from Dan Ashworth and the development work of former head coach Graham Potter and his staff, a group painfully lost to Chelsea at the beginning of the season.
After two loans to clubs in Argentina, Mac Allister started to break into the Brighton starting XI halfway through the 2020-21 season. Following an improvement in form, he has become undroppable, scoring five goals in 14 appearances in what is shaping up to be Brighton’s most successful Premier League season ever.
But Mac Allister’s triumph in Qatar could well be another sip of a poisoned chalice from which the club frequently drink.
It can be bittersweet to watch a Brighton player succeed. The brilliant scouting network can feel as though the club is cutting out the middleman for the ‘big’ teams in the Premier League.
We have seen it in recent seasons with Yves Bissouma (Tottenham), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea) and Ben White (Arsenal). Successful Brighton players are quickly snapped up, albeit for a generous fee, by ‘bigger’ clubs. As much as it is part of owner Tony Bloom’s business model to find and develop talent and sell them on for more money than they cost him, it is a pinch to the skin, a small twinge, a reminder of the game’s hierarchy.
Players want to move to one of the ‘Big Six’, even if, as is now the case, Brighton are above at least one of those six in the table at the time.
Perhaps one day Brighton’s stature will grow as their good form continues, and players will look forward to the day they can call the Amex Stadium home.
For Brighton fans worrying about Mac Allister’s future, it is safe for now — Bloom secured his signature on a new long-term contract to the end of the 2024-25 season less than a month before he left for the World Cup.
It would come as no surprise if Brighton knew exactly what he could showcase on the biggest stage in the world with onlookers champing at the bit to sign a player who had slipped under the radar of ‘big’ club interest before the tournament.
A clever bit of business by Brighton and one that should pay off until at least the end of the season.
From there, the interest could be out of their hands depending on what kind of offers Mac Allister draws, but we can say with some confidence the World Cup winner will now be on the radar for plenty of clubs come next summer.
For now, Brighton’s beloved No 10 will return to Sussex with a gold winner’s medal around his neck.
Brighton, our small city by the sea, has a World Cup winner in their starting XI. It is a sign of the times and a checkpoint the club did not expect to reach, but they have. They should be proud to pinpoint the milestone as a moment to show just how far the club have come from playing their home games 74 miles away in Gillingham and their days at Withdean athletics track.
Brighton have gone from being an ‘easy win’ team to a tough opponent in Premier League diaries, and there’s hope that Mac Allister making history moves Brighton closer to being considered worthy of their place as a top English club.
This is Mac Allister’s moment. But it is Brighton’s pride.
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