Age catches up to footballers in different ways.

Some people lose a yard of speed. Others realize that the body no longer keeps the same promises it used to. For most, this is where greatness begins to fade.

Lionel Messi has spent the last few years adapting to the pressures of football.

When the final whistle echoed around Atlanta, The 39-year-old player fell to his knees before his teammates ran towards him. It was a familiar image in an unfamiliar way. Football has given Messi almost everything to win, yet another World Cup semi-final has still left him emotionally exhausted.

England vs Argentina, FIFA World Cup 2026: highlight

Four years after completing football in Qatar, eight Ballon d’Ors, countless trophies and almost every individual honor imaginable, Messi still looked like a man who had just experienced something completely new.

England deserve huge credit for the way they handled it before intermission. Thomas Tuchel had resisted the temptation to employ a traditional man-marker, instead telling Elliot Anderson to stay close whenever Messi dropped inside, while Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice occupied the space around him. Argentina still enjoyed plenty of possession, but it came up very short in the areas where Messi usually dictates matches. By half-time he had barely made any meaningful attempts at goal and England were becoming increasingly confident that they had found a way to keep him at bay.

The feeling was further strengthened when Anthony Gordon headed Morgan Rodgers’ cross past Emiliano Martínez just after the restart. England had the lead, Argentina suddenly had a problem to solve and Messi still had not imposed himself on the game in the way everyone had expected before kick-off.

How did Messi change the game?

For nearly an hour, England had every reason to believe that their plan was working. Messi was kept away from the areas where he usually does the most damage, Argentina struggled to create anything of real note, and Tuchel’s team looked comfortable with playing on their own terms.

Anthony Gordon’s goal reinforced that feeling.

England eventually got the breakthrough, but gradually defending it became a different challenge altogether. Instead of continuing to press harder, they retreated a few yards, closing the space between the lines and inviting Argentina to take more of the ball.

That’s a gamble you can’t take against someone with the footballer intelligence of Messi, and he noticed it almost immediately.

Rather than continuing to wander into the crowded central areas, where Anderson, Rice and Bellingham had spent an hour closing him down, he moved wide towards the right touchline and began asking England individual questions. Every time he took possession, another white shirt came out to meet him. Every time this happened, another pocket would open somewhere.

Argentina just kept coming.

Crosses became more frequent, even more so after the arrival of De Paul, passing became quicker and England found themselves defending deeper than at any stage of the evening. Jordan Pickford was arranging bodies inside his six-yard box more often than he would have liked, while Messi was seeing the ball more and more. Throughout, he had touched it 94 times, enough to leave his mark on almost every meaningful Argentina attack.

Then came the equalizing goal, a worthy reward for a sustained shift by Argentina’s number 10.

Receiving possession on the right side, Messi resisted the temptation to cross quickly into the area. He waited. England’s midfield is in disarray. Then Enzo passed to Fernandez, who was perfectly positioned on the edge of the box. Fernandez still had a lot of work to do as he pushed his way past Pickford, but it had already started long before the shot was fired.

Messi himself never found the net. His expected goals barely reached 0.01, a figure almost unheard of for a player who arrived in Atlanta as the tournament’s leading scorer. Yet the data that mattered lay elsewhere. They created four chances, two of them clear cut, and each one of them seemed to push England a step closer to their penalty area.

By then even his drops were looking different.

There was a time when Messi used to dribble to beat defenders. Against England, he dribbled to move them. The nine successful dribbles out of 11 attempts were less about flashy feet and more about creating angles, buying another second and opening up another passing lane. This football was played at England’s pace rather than England’s pace.

That patience decided the match.

In stoppage time, with extra time looming, Messi somehow managed to keep the ball alive before lifting a teasing cross towards the far post. Lautaro Martínez did the rest, but like most nights in Argentina, the move began with Messi seeing a possibility that no one else had seen so quickly.

Now when we analyze football IQ, this performance from the 39-year-old could easily be a top 5 example for you.

The legs no longer allow him to dominate every minute of every match, so he has become incredibly selective about when to speed up the pace and when to slow everything down. It is now less about beating defenders but about manipulating them, forcing opponents into positions where they do not even realize they have strayed before the decisive close.

He finished the night without adding to his eight goals this World Cup.

He hardly needed it.

art of adaptation

The version of Lionel Messi wearing Argentina’s number 10 today bears little resemblance to the teenager who first burst onto the scene at Barcelona or even the ferocious goalscorer who found the net 91 times in a calendar year.

At that time, football revolved around his speed. The defenders knew what was coming and still couldn’t stop the impossible dribble, the slaloming run and the breathtaking finish.

But father time eventually catches up with every footballer. Messi is not every footballer.

As explosive racing became more selective, his understanding of the game became more acute. Over the years, arguably one of the greatest goalscorers of his era quietly became its greatest orchestrator.

That development has become one of Argentina’s greatest strengths. Lionel Scaloni no longer asks Messi to continue every attack from beginning to end. Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Rodrigo De Paul and Julian Alvarez take on a lot of the responsibility in the running, allowing their captain to save his energy before deciding when to speed up and slow down the game.

Wednesday night was another masterclass in that restraint.

Messi completed all 120 minutes without looking like the busiest player on the pitch. Yet when the crucial moment came he joined them both. Two assists took his World Cup tally to a record 12, along with 21 goals in six tournaments, figures that begin to illustrate his impact on football’s biggest stage.

One more to go, Leo

The reward for another masterclass is the biggest test of them all.

Spain await in Sunday’s final, which will bring together the most complete team of the tournament and the player who has spent two decades redefining greatness.

This passing of the torch is a fascinating experience. The man who defined Barcelona for a generation now stands between Spain’s rising stars and football’s biggest prize.

Messi was Barcelona for almost two decades. On Sunday, he will come up against the club’s new standard-bearers Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Dani Olmo, three players who are taking Spanish football into the next era, while the man who inspired so many of them is shaping the present.

If England proved anything in Atlanta, it was that keeping Messi quiet for an hour is no guarantee of the survival of the other 30. He no longer bends the game to his will with consistent dribbles or explosive movement. Instead, he waits, watches and, when the time comes, quietly tilts the tie in Argentina’s favour.

Can Spain’s midfield handle it? Do Rodri, Pedri or perhaps Fabian Ruiz have what it takes to stop him? History shows that this is often easier said than done.

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