For a fleeting moment, the face of the true greatest footballer of all time appeared on the stadium screen without the dignity of a proper name. Then the side led by the pretender to that crown set about disfiguring the game he made beautiful.
Wherever Pele was watching from, he would surely have suffered along with the rest of us at the grim prospect of Argentina creeping toward a World Cup triumph on penalties after spending more time kicking Spaniards than footballs.
The Brazilian genius who came to embody football at its most joyful, and the hundreds of millions who cherish the sport, were spared that indignity by one Spanish substitute’s decisive goal in extra time.
Nor would Pele have been inclined to excuse Lionel Messi’s role in what so nearly became a travesty, despite the chorus who have too readily hailed their beloved little Leo as the finest talent ever to grace God’s turf. Grace it, perhaps, but too often at walking pace.
He would have found little to admire in the armband-wearing symbol of what became the ugliest losing side in World Cup history. Messi sat in tears over his team’s brutal failure to retain their crown. Instead of weeping for Argentina or for himself, he might have shed a tear for the shame brought by the team he captained.
Messi has offered not a syllable of apology for the thuggery that scarred the sport’s grandest occasion, the very game that has made him richer than Croesus. There has been no word of regret for his angry team-mates helping spark the brawl that stained their defeat, and no sign of acknowledgement that this nasty, tedious final sank to the very bottom of the 13 World Cup finals I have witnessed and judged.
Lionel Messi was moved to tears by his team’s brutal failure to defend their title, but he should have been crying over the infamy of the side he led, writes Jeff Powell
There was no sign of acknowledgement that this nasty, tedious match had fallen to the foot of the 13 World Cup finals I have scrutinised
| 1. Pele | Brazil |
| 2. Diego Maradona | Argentina |
| 3. Garrincha | Brazil |
| 4. Johan Cruyff | Netherlands |
| 5. Alfredo Di Stefano | Spain |
| 6. Lionel Messi | Argentina |
| 7. Ferenc Puskas | Hungary |
| 8. Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal |
| 9. John Charles | Wales |
| 10. George Best | Northern Ireland |
To think, furthermore, that I was once seduced by his natural-born skills into elevating Messi to third in my ranking of the best in the anthology of football. We all make mistakes.
Those revised rankings accompany this verdict on FIFA’s elongated tournament of mixed blessings. Along with little Leo clinging on to a place in my forever best world Xl. Just about. Although he was on the brink of deletion at the end of Sunday’s final to which his only contribution was to lob a hopeful cross-cum-shot onto the roof of the Spanish goal netting.
That carefully curated image was not helped, either, by Messi doing precious little in the semi-final before Thomas Tuchel sounded England’s retreat into suicidal defence of a one-goal lead.
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A lot of reputations were damaged in this ever-lasting tournament. To suggest that Tuchel should escape the hardest judgement because England won a ten-goal so-called thriller against France in that spurious run-out for third place only handicaps any hope of recovery.
That was a Mickey Mouse coconut shy of a match which France threw away by not turning up for the first half, although they partially redeemed themselves by running riot through Tuchel’s wonky England defence after the interval. Also exposed was this manager’s stubbornness in not selecting England’s most exciting player, Bukayo Saka, before they were knocked out. Even though the Arsenal forward had declared himself fully fit.
With the FA further hog-tied after rushing an extension of Tuchel’s contract to the home Euros two years from now, they are condemning England to stagnation. As Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, especially Italy and Spain as well as Argentina begin a four-year recycling programme of head coaches as well as players towards the next World Cup, so England will lag two years behind.
Trapped in their Tuchel syndrome. If it carries on like this, stand by for another 60 years of depression.
Ominously, also, the gap is closing fast between the old-guard masters of Europe and South America and the uprising of African, Asian and Caribbean football. Witness Morocco, Egypt, Cape Verde, Senegal, Ivory Coast, DR Congo and Curacao coming close to springing a mass upset here.
To think that I was once seduced by his natural-born skills into elevating Messi to third in my ranking of the best in the anthology of football. We all make mistakes
DR Congo came ever so close to causing a huge upset against England in the last 32
Pele had predicted the time was fast approaching when an African team would win the World Cup. This is coming closer and closer as more and more talents from the continent garner experience in the major European leagues. The greatest one’s forecast is not beyond realisation in 2030, even though Spain in their dedicated and organised development of a winning style of football will again be the team to beat. Especially since they will be co-hosts.
Meanwhile this country of ours which gave the greatest of all games to the world trundles along, with the blinkered moguls of the Premier League at the wheel. Even as their clubs splurge hundreds of millions of pounds on domestic players of limited promise. If England learned one thing from this tournament, it is that the likes of Morgan Rogers, Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice are not worth nine-figure fees. Not close.
If the Premier League was taught one lesson, it is that the UFC cage-wrestling with which Arsenal won the title last season will no longer be tolerated by referees. It is an ill World Cup wind which brings no such consolations.
Although 2026 in all its expansionist corporate greed, half-time grovelling to yawn-inducing musical celebrities and suspicions of favouritism has come close to bringing down the Infantino empire. As well as England.
