Imagine this.
The Ballon d’Or race has been blown wide open, and the emotional history of international football has gained another unforgettable chapter. What many assumed would eventually become a distant Finalissima has instead arrived on the grandest stage imaginable: a FIFA World Cup semifinal. England against Argentina. The Three Lions against the reigning world champions. A match destined to live in football folklore.
For eighty five minutes, England believed.
Thomas Tuchel’s side defended with discipline, courage and remarkable composure. Every tackle carried conviction. Every clearance felt like another step toward history. When Anthony Gordon arrived to tap home a beautifully constructed move in the fifty fifth minute, English supporters could almost see the final. Across the country, headlines were already beginning to write themselves.
Then football remembered that Lionel Messi was still on the pitch.
Some players influence matches. Messi has spent two decades bending them to his will.
With five minutes remaining, he drifted into the pocket of space England had spent the entire evening trying to deny him. Three defenders instinctively converged, leaving Enzo Fernández just enough room to receive a perfectly weighted pass. Fernández struck first time from outside the box, sending an unstoppable effort beyond Jordan Pickford and into the corner. The stadium erupted. The balance of the match shifted in an instant.
England barely had time to recover.
Deep into stoppage time, Messi floated toward the right flank before delivering one of those impossibly delicate crosses that seem suspended in time. Lautaro Martínez slipped unnoticed between two defenders and guided his header beyond Pickford.
From hope to heartbreak.
Just like 1986. Just like 1998. Another fiercely contested meeting between England and Argentina ended with the Three Lions staring at another chapter of painful elimination.
The consequences would extend far beyond the final whistle.
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, each carrying six goals into the semifinal, would watch their Ballon d’Or ambitions fade in the Atlanta heat. Instead of competing for football’s greatest prize, they would be left contesting a third place playoff that suddenly felt insignificant.
The focus would turn entirely to the final.
Lamine Yamal had already carried Spain beyond France with another breathtaking performance. Still only a teenager and already the holder of the Kopa Trophy, he would stand just ninety minutes from one of the most extraordinary achievements football has ever witnessed. If Spain lifted the World Cup, the Ballon d’Or conversation would almost certainly belong to him.
Kylian Mbappé’s campaign would suffer another cruel setback. Individual brilliance and a Golden Boot challenge would struggle to outweigh France’s semifinal exit, leaving his Ballon d’Or hopes hanging by the thinnest of threads.
And then there would be Messi.
At thirty nine, many believed that playing in Major League Soccer would inevitably diminish his Ballon d’Or credentials. Yet football has never been governed entirely by statistics. It has always belonged, at least in part, to moments.
Two assists in a World Cup semifinal. Another captain’s performance on the biggest stage. Another final reached with Argentina.
If he lifted the trophy once again, the debate would become irresistible. The game would once more be confronted with the remarkable possibility that the greatest player of his generation had somehow found one final summit to climb.
Perhaps the cancellation of the Finalissima would prove to have been a blessing after all.
Instead of an exhibition between continental champions, football would receive something infinitely richer. A World Cup final.
Spain against Argentina.
Europe against South America.
Lamine Yamal against Lionel Messi.
The prodigy against the master.
The future against the enduring present.
And ninety minutes that could reshape football history.
Shaakaa can be reached on shaakaastephanie@yahoo.com
