From crisis to champions: How Argentina crowned Messi a World Cup winner
Manager Lionel Scaloni guides his men to the top of the mountain in Qatar with Lionel Messi leading the way on the pitch
Argentina are back on top of the soccer world.
Thirty-six years after Diego Maradona last led the soccer-obsessed nation of Argentine to glory, his heir has finally been crowned. Lionel Messi is a FIFA World Cup champion. How did it happen? What was the road to immortality?
The Low Points
After Argentina's loss in the 2014 World Cup Final in Rio de Janeiro, Messi and company would go on to lose two straight Copa America Finals in consecutive years on penalty kicks: the first in Chile against the home nation in 2015, and the following year in New Jersey against the same Chileans.
The three consecutive final defeats left Argentina and Messi in a rut, so much so that the star forward announced his retirement from the national team and had to be convinced to return to the squad the following year.
The 2018 World Cup was no better, where Argentina struggled to make it out of the group while the players shunned the media and held an actual mutiny on manager Jorge Sampaoli. A familiar 3-0 scoreline against Croatia and an elimination in the Round of 16 by eventual champions France followed.
The following year in Brazil at the Copa America, La Albiceleste looked flat and unimaginative once again, getting dominated by the hosts in the semifinal and bowing out in a 2-0 loss.
It looked like Messi would never get his elusive trophy for his country...
The Turning Point
Following the Copa America elimination in 2019 against Brazil, infighting at the Argentine Football Federation and poor performances meant the job was unattractive and toxic to potential candidates. The Federation appointed assistant Lionel Scaloni the new head coach after he had taken the interim post, a decision taken without many options.
Despite criticism of the appointment from many pundits and fans, and even Maradona himself, Scaloni proved them wrong.
Scaloni's impact was almost immediate. After the resumption of play following the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, Scaloni began guiding Argentina through qualifiers and preparations for the 2021 Copa America, which was held without fans in Brazil.
Messi and the new boss guided Argentina all the way to the final, where they stunned the hosts at the famous Maracana to lift Messi's first senior international trophy and Argentina's first title in two decades. The swagger was back. The confidence was back. Argentina was singing again.
Rio to Doha
The title in Rio de Janeiro was no fluke, Argentina were back on the map. Despite the logistical mess of qualifiers due to Covid, Argentina cruised to second place in the South American Football Confederation's qualifiers. What had been two straight cycles of nervy moments and last round heroics turned into a comfortable ride to the Middle East.
By the time Scaloni, Messi, and the rest of the squad arrived in Doha, Argentina had gone 37 matches unbeaten and had won another international trophy, the Finalissima.
Path to the Final
Argentina came to Qatar as one of the favorites to lift the trophy, but it almost looked like they had regressed to old habits after matchday one.
What should have been a simple group opening victory against Saudi Arabia turned into a nightmare for La Albiceleste. Despite a respectable first half and one goal lead at the break, the Saudis stunned the world with two quick goals at the beginning of the second half and handed Argentina their first loss since 2019.
What looked like a sure thing was now in question, and the pundits began worrying that the Argentina of recent World Cups had returned to haunt the nation.
Scaloni did not panic, though. Solid victories over Mexico and Poland followed, as well as a difficult Round of 16 match against gritty Australia. Unlike in the past, Messi was not alone in carrying the weight. The introduction of youngster Julian Alvarez over Larturo Martinez rejuvenated the attack and gave Messi a striker to work off of. The two clicked instantly.
The Netherlands gave them all they could handle in the quarterfinals, playing Louis van Gall-ball and breaking through to score two in the second half and force penalties. But if there was any doubt this was Argentina's tournament to lose, Emiliano Martínez made sure he wouldn't be the reason Messi would go home empty-handed, stopping two Dutch penalties and propelling Argentina to the semis.
After Brazil's masterful choke job in the quarterfinals prevented what might have been the biggest match in World Cup history, Argentina dispatched Croatia with ease in Lusail, scoring two in the first half before Messi danced his way to assist Alveraz in the second half to guarantee Argentina's place in the final.
The 3-0 that Croatia had inflicted on Argentina in the group in Russia had been returned in favor, and Messi would not be denied a date with destiny.
The Crowning
Argentina beat France 4-2 in penalty kicks on Sunday, in what was widely considered the best World Cup final ever.
Messi scored two goals and the first penalty shot to propel his team to victory after a chaotic, back-and-forth match. The soccer legend was able to crown his record-breaking career with soccer's biggest prize for the first time on his farewell to the tournament.
