Messi says Argentina will give it all in World Cup final showdown

Lionel Messi said Argentina would “give it our all” before meeting Spain in a World Cup final that has been cast as the defining match of his international career and a test of how far a team can carry a nation’s expectations without turning the contest into a solo tribute. Argentina entered the final as defending champions, but the build-up has stayed pointedly collective, with the squad trying to present its run as a shared effort rather than a coronation for one player.

Spain’s Mikel Merino set the tone for the other side’s buildup with a more reflective line: “The focus is on being a good human first, then a good footballer.” That restraint stood in contrast to the scale of what was at stake, with Spain’s possession-heavy side facing an Argentina team whose path to the final had already demanded extra time in earlier rounds. By BBC’s count, Argentina had played about an hour more football than Spain and France because several matches went beyond 90 minutes.

The weight of the final also came from the recent past. FIFA said the 2022 tournament was the 22nd edition of the World Cup, ran from 20 November to 18 December 2022, and was the first staged in the Middle East. The final was played at Lusail Stadium in Qatar, where organisers said attendance topped 96% of capacity across the tournament.

Argentina’s 2022 title remains the benchmark for any late-stage showdown involving Messi. Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw, with Messi scoring twice in regulation and again in the shootout, while Kylian Mbappé struck a hat trick for France. That final delivered Argentina their third World Cup title and turned a long pursuit of another crown into one of the most dramatic finishes in the competition’s history.

The stakes in this final extend beyond Messi’s legacy. FIFA confirmed a champions ring for the winner of the match between Argentina and Spain, while Spain could become the first nation to win both the men’s and women’s World Cups back-to-back. For Argentina, the broader meaning is harder to separate from Messi himself: a final that could close his international arc while also reinforcing a national identity built around resilience, memory and one more chance to win on the biggest stage.