Argentina are chasing history at the 2026 World Cup, aiming to become the first nation to defend their crown since 1962, and Lionel Messi will be at the heart of their challenge.
The 38-year-old is preparing for his sixth World Cup, equalling the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, a remarkable landmark by any measure.
But this Messi is almost unrecognisable from the 16-year-old who made his Barcelona debut in a friendly against Jose Mourinho’s Porto back in 2003, dribbling from the right and cutting inside.
When Ronaldinho, then the best player in the world, saw him train for the first time, his verdict was immediate and prophetic: “He will be the best.”
By August 2005, the football world was starting to understand what Ronaldinho meant, as a stunning performance in the Joan Gamper Trophy against Juventus left manager Fabio Capello so startled he reportedly tried to sign the teenager.
The first major tactical reinvention came under Pep Guardiola, who initially moved Messi away from the right wing for defensive reasons, as he was not tracking back and the full-back alongside him was struggling.
On 2 May 2009 at the Santiago Bernabeu, Guardiola placed Messi at the tip of the forward line without the traditional striker’s role, with Samuel Eto’o going right and Thierry Henry going left, and the result was a stunning 6-2 victory.
That false nine system left defenders with an impossible choice, as following Messi into midfield created gaps, while standing off simply handed him time and space to destroy them.
Guardiola repeated the experiment weeks later in the Champions League final against Manchester United, and Messi scored a header with 20 minutes remaining to seal the trophy.
Between 2011 and 2013, Messi scored 96 goals across just 69 La Liga matches, a period of sustained brilliance that underlined his status as the defining player of his generation.
“I didn’t used to pay much attention to tactics,” Messi told journalist Juan Pablo Varsky in 2024, adding that “with Guardiola I learned an enormous amount” about spaces, retention and how the game truly works.
When Xavi departed Barcelona in 2015, followed by Andres Iniesta three years later, Messi adapted again, dropping deeper to become an organiser rather than simply a finisher.
In the 2019-20 season he registered 22 assists and 25 goals in 33 La Liga games, and his first season at Paris St-Germain saw him produce more assists than goals at club level for the first time in his career.
His international journey ran on a painful parallel track, with three consecutive final defeats between 2014 and 2016 across the World Cup and Copa America, each one intensifying the burden of national expectation.
The Copa America 2021 final, won against Brazil in the Maracana, ended a 28-year wait for a major title and represented the emotional release that transformed how Messi carried himself as captain.
The 2022 World Cup saw a complete synthesis of everything he had learned, from the sprint past Josko Gvardiol against Croatia recalling the 2009 winger, to the quarterback precision of his passing in the final against France.
“Football changed a lot,” he told Zinedine Zidane in 2023, noting that “the game today is much more tactical and physical than before” and that players once found more spaces to exploit.
At Inter Miami, Messi walks more than he runs, and what critics once used against him is now widely recognised as the mastery of a player conserving himself for the moments that genuinely matter.
His childhood idol Pablo Aimar once said that “the last Messi is always the best Messi,” and with a sixth World Cup on the horizon, that assessment still stands up to scrutiny.
What separates Messi from every other player of his era is not simply the trophies or the eight Ballon d’Or awards, but the remarkable number of times he has had to completely reimagine what kind of footballer he is.
