In this regal third act, Lionel Messi has the rarest second chance. A player commonly recognised as the greatest ever will have another sacred opportunity to confirm that on Sunday.
Messi goes to a second World Cup final, having driven Argentina to their sixth. The force of such a word doesn’t really do justice to the display that was witnessed at the Lusail, which had the 35-year-old take command of the stage by so dazzlingly taking control of the ball.
