Lionel Messi's post-World Cup final tears illustrate the belated but beautiful bond Argentina's icon discovered with his homeland

There is a sense that we are awaiting the inevitable after Argentina were downed by Spain in the 2026 World Cup final. The tears rolling down Lionel Messi's face after the full-time whistle in New Jersey suggested he may well be about to call time on his glittering international career, having powered his country through the tournament in North America at the age of 39.

For once, Messi was peripheral, with his team-mates adopting an uber-physical approach in a failed attempt to rattle La Roja , rather than trying to play to his strengths. Given the defeat, and the nature of it, this would undoubtedly be a sad end to an incredibly special symbiosis between player and country, but in the wider context of what Messi has achieved across two decades in the Albiceleste shirt, that sadness will soon be forgotten.