"Leo will be the best for as long as he wants; he has been doing it every single match for the last 20 years." Lionel Scaloni said that after his captain scored a World Cup hat trick against Algeria at the age of 38. It wasn't coach-speak. It was just accurate.
Messi's 3-0 demolition of Algeria in Argentina's opening game wasn't just a performance — it was a statement. His first-ever hat trick at a World Cup also moved him level with Miroslav Klose on 16 tournament goals, making him joint all-time top scorer in World Cup history. Thierry Henry, not a man prone to exaggeration, said Messi was "on the moon."
Alexi Lalas cut straight to it on Fox: "When it comes to Argentina, Messi is the system, he is the tactic, he's the formation, he's the identity and he is the heart." Hard to argue after that display.
Why MLS might be the reason he's still this sharp
The broader story here is how Messi got to this point. When he joined Inter Miami in 2023, plenty of observers saw it as a farewell tour — a commercial move dressed up as a football decision. The football verdict is now coming in, and it's complicated those assumptions considerably.
At the peak of his Barcelona years, Messi was playing north of 50 games a season against the best defenders in the world. MLS is a step down in intensity, no question. But in an era where players across Europe are burning out from fixture congestion, that reduced load appears to have preserved something in him. He arrives at what could be his final World Cup sharper than anyone had a right to expect.
The pattern isn't new. When he was at PSG — a domestic league considered a tier below Spain's — he produced his finest World Cup football in Qatar 2022: seven goals, two in the final, the title that had eluded him his entire career. Less weekly pressure, more peak performance when it mattered most. Argentina have twice been the beneficiary of their best player taking a softer club situation.
What his teammates say about preparing for this
Rodrigo De Paul, who joined Messi at Inter Miami, was direct about what both men put into their pre-tournament preparation. "We killed ourselves to, physically, arrive in the best way," he said. Messi has also spoken about taking inspiration from watching Rafael Nadal's Netflix docuseries — specifically Nadal's obsession with staying at the top past the point where most athletes accept decline.
"I am very similar in that sense. I always want to feel good. As long as I can and I am well, I will be there," Messi said.
Scaloni, who has coached him through two World Cups now, admitted he simply runs out of words. "His teammates view him both as a God and as a kid from the neighborhood," he said. "We will miss him."
That last line carries weight. At 38, with one hat trick already in the book, Argentina are chasing back-to-back World Cup titles with a player operating at levels that defy easy explanation. Anyone pricing Argentina's chances of lifting the trophy again needs to start with the number nine on Messi's back.
