Well, that's not quite how it turned out.
Lionel Messi is less athletic compared to his younger self, but his footballing intelligence makes up for the physical drop-off.
As England conceded control of the World Cup semi-final because of their own fatigue and Thomas Tuchel's in-game changes, veteran Messi strolled authoritatively and effectively served as Argentina's on-field coach.
So how did Messi find and exploit England's weaknesses to deliver victory for Argentina in Atlanta? Jude Bellingham was positioned deeper than Argentina might have expected. Rather than leading the press, he was being asked to pay close attention to Enzo Fernandez. Declan Rice did the same with Alexis Mac Allister and Elliot Anderson found himself paired up to Messi.
England wanted to physically bully Argentina when the World Cup holders tried to play their famously central-focused football.
The England midfield trio, showing energy early on, did well to stifle Argentina. Anderson in particular was snappy, early to his duels, smothering Messi well.
But Messi, like Fernandez and Mac Allister, began to grow into the game.
Argentina's captain started to take deeper positions, posing Anderson a dilemma - how far should he follow him? Messi's walking pace, a tool of great deception, came in handy here too.
From almost a standing start, Messi would burst into life, darting towards the ball. With the defending side having to react to these sudden movements, the advantage was increasingly with Argentina, especially as England's press faded as tiredness began to set in.
With players dropping towards the ball in this way, Argentina were able to bring the ball up the pitch as a unit and begin to gain some control.
Published on 7/17/2026