Leo Messi will return tonight (02:30, Sport 1) to the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, where he recorded two of the most significant milestones of his career. In 2014, he lost the World Cup final against Germany, undoubtedly his most difficult and disappointing moment, and seven years later he led Argentina to the Copa America, one of the happiest moments of his life. Since then, Messi has also won the World Cup, and history treats him differently, but until just over two years ago, his career with the national team was considered a failure. He did not win any titles, lost twice in the Copa America final, and even announced his retirement from the national team, until he was persuaded to return.
The victory in the 2021 Copa final was against Brazil, Argentina's opponents tonight in World Cup qualifiers. Two years ago it was the first title for the national team after a 28-year drought, when Messi was 6 years old. Winning the World Cup in Qatar a year ago closed the debate over who is the greatest. Even those who teased him for years about not winning the World Cup, as opposed to Diego Maradona who did it in 1986, were left speechless.
But Messi has not yet retired from the national team and plans to play in the Copa America in the United States this summer. What about the World Cup in 2026? It is still open. He will be 39 at the time, and at that age it is difficult to commit. But in World Cup qualification he plays, and has already scored three goals in the first five rounds. However, tonight he will be able to register another personal milestone – scoring against Brazil in an official match. All 5 of his previous goals against the Seleção were in friendly matches. Messi scored 31 goals in World Cup qualifying against all South American teams except Brazil. Besides, in his 180th game for the national side, it will probably be Messi's last time in Maracanã, and the 69,<> fans in yellow are aware of that.
Maracanã Stadium, Photo by Getty Images
Adriano, the former Brazil defender, who played with Messi at Barcelona, said: "It would be an achievement for Messi if the Maracana crowd cheered him on. And I, as a Brazilian, would be happy if that happened. It will honor his career. Even though he is Argentine, it will be a recognition of everything he stands for world football." Argentina arrive in Maracanã in first place in the table, but after a 2-0 home loss to Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay. Before that, the world champions had won their first four games of the campaign.
In fact, after winning on penalties in the World Cup final against France, Argentina won eight games in a row without conceding. Until Uruguay arrived. Lionel Scaloni's side have not lost or conceded in their last three games against Brazil, and tonight's line-up will be very similar to the one he started against Uruguay. Lautaro Martinez may start alongside Messi, replacing Fiorentina's Nico González. Lautaro has not scored in his last 16 games for the national team since September 2022.
Brazil national team players in training. A mess at the Salsão, photo: EPA
Despite the loss against Uruguay, Argentina is not worried, but in Brazil the mood is completely different. The pressure is enormous, after the Seleção lost their last two games, to Uruguay and Colombia, and that's after a poor draw with Venezuela. Brazil is ranked fifth, and if Ecuador hadn't been deducted 3 points, they would have been in sixth place. Some commentators in Brazil claim that they are the weakest team of all time, and yet no one really thinks there is a chance that they will not qualify for the World Cup, which has never happened before.
Since the 2026 World Cup has been expanded to 48 teams, the top six of South America's 10 participants will qualify, and the seventh will get another chance, in a playoff against an opponent from another continent. Still, the Seleção's performance in the last four games has been disgraceful. Last week, Colombia beat Brazil 1-2 in Barranquilla in a game in which they reached 22 situations. Luis Diaz, who scored a pair, had 10 scoring chances. It was the first time Brazil had lost two qualifying matches in a row and if they lost to Argentina tonight, another precedent would be set, as Brazil had never lost a home game in a World Cup qualifier!
Brazil have never lost a World Cup qualifiers game as a local in their history. 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/WapNYGhSat
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) November 20, 2023
After the failure in Qatar, coach Tite resigned and was replaced by Fernando Diniz, who continues to coach Fluminense, with whom he won the Copa Libertadores. The idea was for Diniz to coach until the end of the season and then Carlo Ancelotti arrived, but in the meantime rumours claim that Ancelotti is considering staying at Real Madrid for another season. Perhaps because he, too, sees what a bad situation Brazil is in.
How delusional is the situation in Brazil? 24 hours after the team's match against Argentina, Diniz will return to Maracanã for Fluminenza's league match against São Paulo and Brazil's troubles come in bunches. After injuries to Neymar, Eder Militao, Casemiro and Richarlison, the biggest current star, Vinicius, was injured against Colombia. And that's before we even mention the defence, which conceded six goals in the campaign, more than in all of the 2022 qualifiers. Only weak Bolivia and Peru suffered more in the first five rounds.
For both teams, it will be their last game in 2023. Qualifying won't resume until September 2024, after the Copa America hosted by the U.S. in the summer. The last time Brazil beat Argentina was in the semi-finals of the 2019 Copa America, four and a half years ago (0-2 through goals from Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino). Since then, the Seleção has only gone backwards while Argentina has become world champions. Tonight, in the 110th meeting between the two arch-rivals, we will know whether the new world order remains in place, and whether something else that until recently sounded delusional will happen: that Brazil fans will cheer at Maracanã for Leo Messi.
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