Tuesday night (Bangladesh time) was unlike any other World Cup night. On this night, two stars of the new generation, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, took the field in separate matches. As they sent a message of dominance over world football from New York and Boston, all eyes at the other end of the United States, in Kansas City, were on Lionel Messi.
Taking the field against Algeria, Messi seemed to deliver to the new generation that timeless message: to be the best, you first have to beat the best.
Only hours earlier, Mbappe had overtaken Messi on the list of all-time World Cup top scorers. On the other side, Haaland announced his arrival on the world stage with two goals against Iraq. It seemed that these two new-generation stars were almost ready to take over the seat of world football’s biggest star.
Mbappe celebrates after scoring. Photo: AFP
Many have begun to view Messi, who turns 39 in a few days, and 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo as chapters of the past. At such a moment, Messi’s hat-trick on the world stage announced his enduring command once more.
First, he overtook Mbappe on the list of World Cup goal tallies. Then, completing his first World Cup hat-trick, he reached 16 goals to share top spot with his companion there, German legend Miroslav Klose. Messi has set another rare record too. He is now both the youngest and the oldest goal-scorer in Argentina’s World Cup history.
It did not take long for Lionel’s first goal of the match to arrive. That goal was an extraordinary strike that will undoubtedly rank among the best moments of this World Cup. Receiving a through ball played down the middle of the pitch, Messi advanced towards the box. Five Algerian defenders closed in to surround him. Just then he shifted a step to the left and took a powerful shot. Struck from about 20 yards, the shot beat goalkeeper Luca Zidane’s fingertips and nestled in the net.
After the goal, many spectators felt a thrill: this was the Messi of old, the magician Messi.
Messi takes the shot for his second goal. Photo: AFP
Messi got his second goal 15 minutes into the second half. He was seen in that familiar Barcelona role of the ‘opportunist striker’. From about 30 yards outside the box, Alexis Mac Allister took a powerful shot. The ball went straight at the Algerian goalkeeper, who could not handle its pace. As the ball spilled out, Messi pounced on it. Left unmarked because of an Algerian defender’s lapse, Messi easily put the ball into the net to give Argentina a 2-0 lead. It was the goal of a legend who still plays with his mind as much as his feet.
The third goal was almost another version of the first two. By then Algeria’s defence was crumbling under pressure from Messi and his teammates. As a result, no one came to mark Messi at the edge of the box. A through pass from Nico Gonzalez on the wing went behind Messi. But the tired Algerian defenders showed no urgency to deal with it. Seizing the chance, Messi stepped forward to control the ball, turned halfway and slotted it low into the corner of the net. That settled the match.
After Kylian Mbappe’s and Erling Haaland’s superb performances in the earlier matches, everyone expected something of the same calibre from the great Lionel Messi. For France, Mbappe’s brace showed his full ability. His second goal displayed extraordinary skill. A powerful shot from about 30 yards beat Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and found the net.
Erling Haaland announced his arrival on the world stage in his very first match. Photo: AFP
On the other side, Haaland showed his effectiveness with two goals in his very first World Cup match. He opened the scoring for Norway with a perfectly placed sliding finish from a cross. He then pounced on a loose back-pass from an Iraqi defender, got to the ball ahead of the goalkeeper and scored his second. In the end, Norway won the match 4-1.
On such a World Cup night, when one star after another shone, many felt the time had perhaps come for a change of leadership in world football. Messi and Ronaldo have held sway for so long that they have watched the rise and fall of their own successors. Both are now playing in their sixth World Cup.
Many see Mbappe as the true successor to Messi and Ronaldo. Haaland, for his part, has established himself as one of the world’s best and most clinical strikers. They are undoubtedly bright stars.
But when Messi left the field 11 minutes before the end of the match at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, bidding farewell to a thunderous ovation from the crowd, he reminded everyone once again: Mbappe, Haaland and others may be stars, but this universe called football still revolves around the sun. And the name of that sun is Lionel Messi.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report