Three years on, and that night in Lusail still hits differently. FIFA has released a never-before-seen 25-second clip from the side of the award ceremony stage, showing Messi walking toward his teammates with the World Cup trophy in hand — the celebration that followed etched into football history.
The footage, posted to FIFA's official X account, captures what the broadcast cameras missed: the angle from the stage, the sea of fans pointing phones at the man in the number 10 shirt, the moment a five-tournament wait finally ended.
What it took to get there
Argentina's road to that trophy wasn't clean. They lost to Saudi Arabia 2-1 in their opening group game — one of the tournament's defining upsets — before recovering to beat Mexico and Poland 2-0 each. From there, Scaloni's side found another gear: past Australia in the last 16, past the Netherlands on penalties in the quarters, and a composed 3-0 dismantling of Croatia in the semis.
The final itself was a genuine classic. France, with Mbappé scoring a hat-trick, dragged it back to 3-3 and forced penalties. Argentina won 4-2. Their third World Cup title — after 1978 and 1986 — and Messi's first after five attempts.
The timing of this release is deliberate. With 85 days until the 2026 World Cup kicks off across the United States, Mexico, and Canada (June 11 to July 19), FIFA is stoking the fire — and it's working.
Argentina's 2026 group and what's at stake
Defending champions arrive in Group J, where they face Algeria on June 16 in Kansas City, Austria on June 22 in Dallas, and Jordan on June 27. On paper, a straightforward path to the knockouts. In practice, Argentina know better than anyone that group stages don't come with guarantees.
Before the tournament, Scaloni's squad will also play a home friendly — the Finalissima against Spain having already been cancelled — giving the coach one more look at his options before the real thing begins.
The nostalgic clip is nice. But Argentina's next chapter starts in Kansas City in June.
