To the cynical eye, the first felt ever so slightly soft. Lionel Messi\u2019s effort was good, rather than great. It was not quite in the corner. As he dived, Luca Zidane, the Algeria goalkeeper, seemed to have it within reach, only to misjudge his timing, his stretch, or possibly his chosen profession. The ball brushed his fingers as it sailed past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second, too, was a bit of a gift. Zidane failed to hold Alexis Mac Allister\u2019s stinging shot. The ball squirmed away from him, and there was Messi again, ambling in, dropping his shoulder so nonchalantly he might almost have been bored, and effortlessly leaving Zidane \u2013 yes, son of \u2013 stranded with the rebound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you were that way inclined, it would still have been possible at that stage to believe all of the things we have decided we know about Messi. This is a World Cup too far. He has been in a \u201cretirement league\u201d since 2023, going through the motions. He is nearly 39. At his age, he is a cross between Argentina\u2019s mascot and a very convincing tribute act. Like all living things, his genius has tended toward entropy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then he scored the third. The third was the<\/em> Messi goal, the one that he has been scoring for 20 years or more, the one that is so familiar it is almost a waste of words to describe it. Messi has the ball 25 yards out from goal. Messi takes one touch to set himself, a second to open up his body, and a third to whip a shot past Zidane\u2019s outstretched arms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> 🚨 Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Lionel Messi's goal against Algeria:
🗣️ Zlatan Ibrahimovic:
I don't think there's a goalkeeper in the world saving that finish. When Messi decides that's where the ball is going, it's over.
People keep asking how he's still doing this at his age. My\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/PwfRkGZQmd<\/a><\/p>— Sage (@Sage_FCB) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>