Lionel Messi had to wait and wait and wait. He had to wait until he was reaching the sunset of his glittering, glorious career. He had to wait until he had already tasted the sting of defeat in a World Cup final. He had to wait even after he seemed to have inspired Argentina’s soccer team to beat France in this year’s final Sunday, first in regulation time, then again in extra time.
He had to wait until after he scored two goals — but Kylian Mbappe of France, his heir apparent on the world stage, had gotten three, becoming the first man to score a hat trick in a World Cup final in more than half a century. Regulation time ended 2-2; extra time ended, 3-3; and then there were penalties, which Argentina won, 4-2, the last twist in the most extraordinary final in this tournament’s long history.
Only then did Messi’s wait, his agony, come to an end. Only then could he finally claim the one prize that had eluded him, the one honor he craved above all others, the one achievement that could further cement his status as the greatest player to have played the game: delivering a World Cup championship to Argentina, its third overall but first since 1986.
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