After Argentina the World Cup in 2020 and are currently getting ready for another next year, the question will certainly come true if there will ever be another Lionel Messi in football.
Even at 38, the Inter Miami forward goes on defying age and this season, he has made 34 appearances in MLS, scoring 27 goals and providing 11 assists. However, as the 2026 World Cup is believed to be his international goodbye, coach Lionel Scaloni has let the cat out of the bag – Messi is irreplaceable.
“Let’s enjoy him now, as much as possible, for as many games as he can play,” Scaloni said this week. “Then he won’t be with us, and the loss will be very big – not only for Argentina but football as a whole.”
Messi has been a mix of art, longevity, and unremitting consistency that has been hardly matched in the history of the sport. He has taken Argentina to two Copa América titles plus the 2022 World Cup, which is arguably the highest summation of his legacy as the greatest of all time. When Scaloni was asked if there could be a successor to Messi, he responded: “No, there is no one. The one won’t be. What he has done over such a long time is unrepeatable.”
Surely, Argentina have usually been a fertile ground for exceptional players, from Diego Maradona to the present week of the emerging stars like Julián Álvarez, nevertheless, Scaloni states that Messi still holds a unique position. “We are talking about something that is unseen before from what I have seen,” he added.
The Albiceleste have already confirmed their place at the head of South American qualifying with 35 points from 16 matches and end their campaign against Venezuela and Ecuador. However, aside from the scoreboard, and the whole universe of football, are dealing with the fact that Messi will not be there in the future.
So, will a player like Lionel Messi ever exist again? Scaloni’s response is straightforward: no. Maybe that is the reason why every one of his remaining appearances must be valued.
