Messi and the Magic of Being Alive at the Right Time
From childhood playgrounds to World Cup glory, Lionel Messi has been the constant throughout my soccer journey — and it's impossible to imagine the sport without him.
I don’t really remember the first time I heard about Lionel Messi.
It was probably at some point in elementary school on the playground, kicking the ball around with some kids who were far better at soccer than I was, that his name first touched my ears. There’s also a chance it happened much, much later during my first genuine foray into the sport around 2016. Truthfully, I have no clue. The more I think about it, though, the more I realize that the details don’t really matter because the fact is that Messi has always been there in some form or fashion.
He’s been part of the background of my soccer fandom for as long as I can remember, which is a strange thing to say about somebody who might be the greatest athlete I’ve ever laid my eyes upon. So many players come and go. Entire sports dynasties rise and fall. Coaches get fired, stars get old and fans move on to the next shiny best thing. Yet throughout all the change that soccer has undergone during my lifetime, Messi has remained this permanent fixture, as inevitable as the sunrise and just about as beautiful.
I’ve watched him at his lowest and highest. I watched Argentina stumble through the 2018 World Cup, where Messi looked strangely mortal and where many believed the greatest player of his generation had missed his chance. I watched the endless debates with Cristiano Ronaldo dominate the sport, as fans on both sides of the aisle hurled statistics and trophies at each other like children arguing on a playground. I watched him leave Barcelona in tears, awkwardly try to fit in at Paris Saint-Germain and then arrive in Miami to a level of fanfare that almost defied belief. And then I watched him do the impossible in Qatar, lifting Argentina to its first World Cup title in 36 years while cementing something that, in my mind at least, had long been true: Lionel Messi is the greatest soccer player who has ever lived.
As with most of my soccer analysis, that’s not a groundbreaking take. Frankly, I think most people who have watched him for any meaningful amount of time would agree with me. But what fascinates me about Messi isn’t simply that he’s great. Sports are filled with all types of great players. Tom Brady was great. Michael Jordan was great. Wayne Gretzky was great. Those athletes piled up championships and records that may never be touched, yet I don’t think any of them possess what Messi does.
The statistics are almost beside the point. Yes, he’s scored more than 800 goals. Yes, he’s won countless domestic titles and Champions Leagues. Yes, he finally captured the World Cup that eluded him for so long. But if you ask me why I think Messi is the greatest player who has ever lived, I’m not pulling up a spreadsheet or reading off his trophy case. I’m telling you to sit down and watch him.
Watch the way he moves around the field. Watch how he spends minutes at a time simply strolling, surveying the pitch as if he’s a grandmaster plotting his next move several turns in advance. Watch defenders nervously glance over their shoulders every few seconds because they know exactly where he is and still have no idea what he’s about to do. Then watch him receive the ball. That’s when the magic begins. As the stadium comes alive, teammates sprint into space. Opponents then freeze for half a second, which is about all the time Messi needs. A dribble that shouldn’t work suddenly does. A passing lane that didn’t exist magically appears. A shot from an impossible angle somehow finds the back of the net. I don’t really know how to explain it any better than that. Not many people do, I don’t think. The only true way to understand Messi is to experience him.
The 2026 World Cup is special in a lot of ways. It’s here in the United States, a place I call home and adore. As thousands of people flock toward the land of the free and the home of the brave, I’ve found myself continually smiling. Seeing folks from Scotland and Germany enjoying what we Americans take for granted in everyday life has been such a treat. Hearing how the Japanese have grown to adore Dallas, a place most Americans would call drab, has been so heartwarming. But for all the extracurricular fanfare, the real excitement comes from the football. And the most exciting aspect of it all is still, after all these years, Messi.
He’s almost 39 years old now. He’s somehow still brilliant, somehow still capable of producing moments that make me gasp out loud because I can’t believe what I just witnessed. Watch him score a hat trick against Algeria or net two goals against Austria at Jerry World. Watch him dance around defenders who are a decade younger than he is and make them look silly in the process. Wherever you see Messi, the feeling is always the same.
Wonder.
We spend so much time arguing about where Messi ranks historically or whether Ronaldo deserves to be in the same conversation that we sometimes forget to appreciate the fact that we’re living through one of the most extraordinary athletic careers in human history. Someday this is all going to end. There will be another superstar, another wonderkid to woo our hearts. But there won’t be another Messi.
Honestly, I think that’s why I’ve never been particularly invested in the Ronaldo debate. I know there are plenty of people who still believe Cristiano is the greatest player of this generation, and they’re entitled to that opinion. To me, Messi has always had something more. He has the joy and wonder that I always wished I had when I played sports. When I watch Argentina, I see teammates actively searching for him because they want him to score. Instead of competing with his greatness, his teammates desire to celebrate it. The entire country of Argentina rallies around him because he’s given them more pleasant memories than they could ever reasonably ask for. That’s a legacy. Not just being the best, but being beloved. Being the type of athlete who makes people fall in love with sports all over again.
That’s what Messi has done for me. He’s been there from the beginning of my soccer journey and, somehow, he’s still here now. Maybe that’s why I struggle to imagine a world where he isn’t playing anymore. A World Cup without Messi feels wrong in the same way a sky without stars would feel abhorrent. I know that day is coming eventually. It’s probably going to arrive quite soon. But that’s what makes this summer so precious. Every dribble, every pass, every little moment of brilliance is another chance to witness greatness while it’s still here.
Messi is football incarnate.
And we’re unbelievably lucky to be living at the same time as him.