Spain and Argentina have finally arranged their meeting in La Finalissima, which sees the winners of the Latin American Copa America and the Euros in Europe. The competition will take place for just the second time since its revival in 2022, ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Last time round it saw Argentina and Italy meet after the season in June in London, with the Albiceleste running out 3-0 winners at the Emirates stadium, courtesy of goals from Lautaro Martinez, Angel di Maria and Paulo Dybala.
Now three years later, Argentina will seek to retain the trophy. Argentina were again victorious in last summer’s Copa America, winning 1-0 against Colombia with a goal from Lautaro Martinez in extra time. Just hours earlier, Spain had won the Euros for the second time in their history with a 2-1 victory over England in Berlin.
La Finalissima set for Qatar
The showpiece event will take place in Doha, Qatar this time, as reported by Diario AS, on the 27th of March, in the final international break before teams meet to prepare for the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada in the summer. With both qualifying automatically for the tournament, neither have play-off games to contend with.
It is explained that the Argentina Football Association (AFA) were the only party yet to give the green light for the tournament, as they dealt with leadership problems internally. Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni had placed some doubt over the event, commenting that he ‘didn’t see it’ happening.
Lionel Messi unlikely to play
It was billed as a potential meeting between Lionel Messi and his heir apparent at Barcelona, Lamine Yamal. However the Argentine superstar has said that he will not take part in the event, noting that he will still be in preseason, with no certainty he will play in the World Cup either. If Messi is not present, there is a good chance they will never be on the same pitch in a competitive setting.
Messi not play in Finalissima is no surprise for me, to say the least.
And again, and more importantly, l don’t see Messi featuring for Argentina in next year’s World Cup hosted by Mexico,USA and Canada.
He played his last world cup in Qatar in 2022, while ending up leading Argentina to win the World Cup for the third time. Hence cementing or establishing his name and legacy in World Cup history.
In a nutshell, Leo Messi will not be in next year’s World Cup tournament.
And not featuring in the tourney will be good for his image as a global football icon and the GOAT, because if Argentina fail to get to the final or win it again, with him in the squad, it would end up taking the shine away from glorious image he had earned after he led Argentina to victory against France in Qatar in 2022.