At 39, Messi Is Doing Things He Last Did at 23
With 8 goals and dribble numbers he last posted at 23, Messi arrives at the semi-final defying time — and setting his sights on Just Fontaine's all-time record.
When Messi signed with Inter Miami in MLS, the football world rolled its eyes. A lesser league, a gilded retirement, an end-of-career dressed up as an eternal holiday. Four years later, the 39-year-old is in the World Cup semi-final matching numbers he last posted at 23.
Against England, Messi completed nine dribbles in a single game — the same total he had managed against Germany in 2010, when he was more than fifteen years younger. That was his World Cup match record. He equalled it now, at his sixth World Cup, as if time were entirely optional.
And it doesn't stop there. Leo has been directly involved in a goal — scoring or assisting — in 13 consecutive matches for Inter Miami or the national team. It is the second-longest such run of his entire career, behind only a 14-game streak in 2011, according to Marca.
In the scoring charts, Messi leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals, ahead of Haaland (seven), Kane and Bellingham (six each). With two games still to play, he is also closing in on what once seemed untouchable: Just Fontaine's 13 goals in a single World Cup, a record set in 1958 across just six matches.
The Golmetria model gives Argentina a 33% chance of lifting the trophy — the second-highest probability in the tournament. With Messi in this form, that figure might even be conservative.
The question the entire football world is asking right now is no longer whether Messi still has what it takes. It's how far he will go before anyone manages to stop him.