.jpg)
By Mihar Dias June 2026
At 39, when footballers are expected to be sitting comfortably in television studios explaining how the game should be played, Lionel Messi is still showing the world how it is played. While others analyse, he mesmerises. While others remember, he rewrites history. We watched he scored six goals in three group matches at the 2026 World Cup.
A hat-trick against Algeria. A brace against Austria. Then, against Jordan, he did not even begin the match. Introduced midway through the second half, he calmly won a free kick on the edge of the penalty area, surveyed the wall as though measuring it with invisible instruments, and bent the ball into the corner with the certainty of a man signing his own masterpiece.
The goal was more than another entry on the scoresheet. It was history.
Messi has now scored in seven consecutive World Cup matches, surpassing a record that had survived for 56 years. Greats such as Just Fontaine in 1958 and Jairzinho in 1970 managed six in succession. Messi has made it seven. His World Cup tally now stands at 19 goals, extending a record he already owns. https://newswav.com/A2606_Fm7Y82?s=A_MQ8Mnzu&language=en
The statistics are staggering. Yet they still fail to explain the phenomenon.
How does a man approaching forty continue to dominate the greatest football tournament on earth?
Science can explain nutrition, conditioning, recovery and sports medicine. Coaches can explain tactics. Psychologists can explain mental resilience.
None adequately explains genius.
Some footballers rely on speed. Others depend on strength. Both inevitably diminish with age. Messi has always possessed something more enduring: vision. He sees spaces before they exist. He anticipates movements seconds before defenders realise their mistake. His left foot appears to negotiate with the football rather than strike it.
The years may have slowed his sprint, but they have sharpened his wisdom.
Watching Messi today is rather like watching an elderly concert pianist. The fingers no longer move with youthful fury, yet every note carries greater meaning. Experience has become artistry.
There is also something profoundly reassuring about his longevity. In a world obsessed with youth, Messi reminds us that excellence has no expiry date. Society too often measures worth by age. We quietly retire people in our minds long before they retire themselves.
Messi refuses such labels.
He reminds every sixty-year-old beginning a new career, every seventy-year-old writing a first book, every eighty-year-old discovering a fresh purpose, that age is merely the arithmetic of birthdays. It need not define ambition.
Argentina are favourites once again, largely because one little magician continues to defy biology. Every match now feels like another chapter in a fairy tale we know cannot last forever, yet somehow does.
Perhaps that is why millions watch him with such affection. They know miracles are rare.
The dictionary defines a miracle as something impossible that nevertheless happens.
Football has another definition.
It is called Lionel Messi.
Share your passion for football through #GilaBola and stand a chance to win cash prizes worth up to RM1,200!
Find out how to join here. Don't miss out! T&Cs apply.
Mihar Dias (mihardias@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.
