Lionel Messi was back in the middle of the World Cup spotlight on Friday in New York, smiling, waving and adding a few winks as fans chanted his name over and over before he settled into his seat at the Javits Center. On Sunday in New Jersey, Argentina and Spain are set to meet in the final, with Messi, 39, trying to win back-to-back World Cup titles.
That is why searches for most goals scored in a World Cup are spiking now: Messi is not just appearing at another tournament event, he is chasing another title at an age when most players are long gone from this stage. The setting around him has only sharpened the sense of occasion, with Tom Brady, Novak Djokovic and Kevin Durant among the fellow sporting greats who appeared at the event, and with FIFA adding the tournament’s first-ever halftime show while extending the normal 15-minute break to 30 minutes. Hydration breaks were also part of the tournament.
Messi’s place in the conversation is obvious, but the final is bigger than one face. Spain arrives after conceding only one goal in seven games, a run that included a 2-0 semifinal win over France. It also brings a recent record few teams can match: the UEFA Nations League in 2023, the Euros in 2024 and a return to the final again in 2025. Rodri, the 30-year-old Manchester City stalwart whose full name is Rodrigo Hernández, framed that confidence in blunt terms after the semifinal, saying Spain had played one of its best games against France and needed to be even better against Argentina.
That is the friction in Sunday’s final. Messi may be the face of the tournament, but Spain has earned its own claim on the stage, and its defense has been so tight that one goal in seven games leaves little room for error. The White House has confirmed President Trump will appear at Sunday’s game, adding another layer to a match that already has title stakes, star power and a rare statistical question attached to it: where Messi stands in the race for the most goals scored in a World Cup compared with the all-time leaders.
