Lionel Messi is heading to another World Cup Final. That part isn’t surprising anymore. What’s interesting is how he got there this time — and Robert Griffin III has a theory about why it matters.
Argentina beat Switzerland 2-1 in a semifinal that was tighter than the scoreline suggests. Switzerland grabbed a lead right after halftime and held it deep into the second half. But Argentina equalized quickly, and then Lautaro Martínez scored the winner off a header from Messi. Classic Messi stuff, except for one detail: Messi didn’t score himself.
That’s the point RGIII is making.
On social media, the former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst laid out why Messi’s influence goes beyond goal totals. Griffin pointed out that Argentina has played the most entertaining games of this World Cup — the Cape Verde match, the Egypt game, now this one. They haven’t had an easy path, but they keep finding ways to win. And a lot of that comes down to how defenses treat Messi.
“They just won this game against Switzerland, and he didn’t score one,” Griffin said. “So I think what is happening is the stars on Argentina’s team, that are stars in other places when they don’t play with Messi, are realizing that defenses are designating two guys to Lionel Messi because he’s the greatest of all time, because he’s one of the greatest goal scorers of all time, and that’s opening up opportunities for them to get one-on-ones or, as we like to call it, one-on-nones and make shots.”
Messi currently has eight goals in the tournament, tied for the Golden Boot lead with Kylian Mbappé. But the way Griffin sees it, the eight goals almost miss the bigger point. Opponents are so terrified of what Messi can do that they commit extra defenders to him, leaving his teammates in favorable spots. That’s how someone like Martínez gets space to finish a header in a semifinal. That’s how Argentina keeps winning close games.
Now Messi and Argentina face Spain in the final on Sunday. Spain has been one of the best teams in the tournament, but they’ll have the same problem everyone else has had: Messi warps the game around himself. You can’t ignore him. You can’t double-team him without leaving someone open. And if you try to play him straight up, he’ll just score himself.
Messi is Argentina’s all-time leading scorer and its all-time leader in assists. He’s the only player in World Cup history to record a goal and an assist in five different matches at a single tournament. The résumé is already the best in the sport’s history, according to just about everyone paying attention — including RGIII, who summed it up in a single tweet: “His greatness isn’t just in goal scoring. Messi makes everyone around him better. THAT’S WHY he is the greatest of all time.”
One more win, and that case gets even harder to argue against.
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