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A Messi Business
Hindustan Times Chandigarh
|June 28, 2026
Watching Argentina in this World Cup is a bit like watching a heist movie: red herrings that all end the same way — a goal by Messi
There’s a kind of glorious deja vu to the things Lionel Messi is doing.
Football is a team sport and, no matter how great, a single player usually doesn’t dictate the fortunes of a team.
1998 was France’s year and the spotlight was on Zinedine Zidane, but the midfield genius around him had Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Lilian Thuram, to name a few.
The same goes for Brazil in 1970. Pele may have been the focal point, but the team also featured Jairzinho, Rivellino, Tostao...
There’s only one great footballing nation where an individual has eclipsed a team at the World Cup. 1986 will always be the year of Maradona, and the only example of a one-man show that led to a World Cup triumph.
Then, in 2022, Messi inspired Argentina to its second World Cup title, and he did it with an aura and oversized influence that almost matched Maradona’s in ’86.
This story is from the June 28, 2026 edition of Hindustan Times Chandigarh.
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