Messi provided the assists for both of Argentina's goals against England. – Reuters
Argentina scored two goals—one by Enzo Fernández and the other by Lautaro Martínez. Lionel Messi’s name was not on the scoresheet, yet everyone knows he was the hero of Argentina’s victory over England in the semi-final.
England had managed to keep him largely contained for the first 55 minutes of the match. What followed was a story of how a single player completely rewrote the script of the game.
Thomas Tuchel’s team might have seen a 2–1 scoreline at the end, but on the pitch, they had effectively lost to Messi alone.
Messi had never faced England in his career prior to this match. The only time Argentina played England after his debut (in 2005), he was absent due to a red-card suspension. The experience the English had in their first encounter with the 39-year-old Messi was certainly one they would want to forget.
In the first half, England kept Messi pinned to the midfield. While he displayed a few exquisite touches when on the ball, his overall impact on the game was not particularly striking. England were playing according to plan, even taking the lead through an Anthony Gordon goal in the 55th minute. That was precisely when the tide of the match began to turn.
After conceding the goal, the Argentina coach had no choice but to alter his tactics—a move that carried its own risks. Lionel Scaloni shifted Messi to the right flank. This single decision by Scaloni dismantled England’s entire defensive strategy. After the match, Emiliano Martínez admitted, “Moving Messi to the wing was the turning point for us.”
Meanwhile, England coach Tuchel began bringing on defenders to fortify the backline, aiming to preserve their lead. However, the move backfired. England increasingly retreated into their own half, allowing Argentina to dominate possession.
The dominance was such that, between the 55th and 92nd minutes, Argentina held 88 percent of the possession. Notably, between the 66th and 84th minutes of the match—an 18-minute span—England completed only two accurate passes. Both were simple exchanges between goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and center-back John Stones.
It was during this period that Messi took control of the match. Whenever he received the ball, he drew one, two, or sometimes even three English players toward himself. He would cut inside from the right flank, create space near the penalty area, or deliver passes that completely dismantled the English defense.
Statistics reveal just how helpless England was. Messi completed nine successful dribbles in the match, whereas the entire England squad managed only seven. In other words, he beat more defenders on his own than the whole English team combined.
Messi had seven touches inside England’s penalty area—matching the total of the entire English team. He created four goal-scoring opportunities, again equaling the output of the whole English side. He also delivered the highest number of crosses in the match—nine.
Most importantly, he played a direct role in both of Argentina’s goals. In the 85th minute, Enzo equalized with a long-range shot after receiving a pass from Messi’s corner. Then, in the second minute of stoppage time, Lautaro Martínez scored the winner with a header from a cross delivered by Messi.
Former England defender Micah Richards remarked, “He walks around the pitch, but comes alive the moment the ball is at his feet. That is where his genius lies. And that often makes the difference in a match.”
The discussion surrounding Messi’s “walking” is nothing new. While walking, he reads the opponent’s positioning and conserves energy, only to strike at the perfect moment. That is exactly what was witnessed against England.
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart offered a similar analysis: “We wanted to replicate the way we locked down the defense against Mexico and Norway.” But that gave Messi complete freedom. And he held the key to unlocking that situation. He single-handedly controlled the match during the final 15 minutes.
England captain Harry Kane also admitted that his team fell out of the match in the second half because of Messi: “We had kept him well contained for a long time. But that is the thing with the world’s most dangerous players—the moment they get the ball, they can create something new. He didn’t become one of the greatest players in history for nothing.”
Perhaps this is Messi’s defining characteristic.
