NEW YORK — For the second consecutive World Cup, Major League Soccer will have representation in the World Cup final as Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul look to win a second consecutive World Cup with Argentina, as they will face Spain at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. In 2022, it was Thiago Almada who was with Atlanta United while also representing Argentina in the final where he was an unused substitute, but now Messi is bidding to win the Golden Boot for the tournament as he has eight goals and four assists so far during the World Cup as his magic has ensured that there isn’t such a thing as a game that Argentina are out of when he’s around.
At an event to get ready for the return of MLS from its World Cup break, New York Red Bulls manager Michael Bradley was asked if he was surprised by Messi’s performance at this World Cup, at 39 years old, and his response is right in line with what we’re all thinking.
“Surprised? No chance. I stopped being surprised by him a long time ago. And is it the best advertising for the league? Yeah, it’s a really good representation of the league,” Bradley said. “Obviously, he is the best player of all time. And when you look at what he has been able to do at a World Cup at age 39, the way that he has been able to play and compete and put Argentina on his shoulders in so many important moments, it is so impressive. And the fact that he’s playing in Major League Soccer week in and week out, that speaks really highly of the league.”
When Messi came to the league during the summer of 2023 after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired, Inter Miami had only made the playoffs once in their history. Now with Messi leading the charge, they’ve won the Leagues Cup, MLS Cup, played in the Club World Cup, and set an MLS single-season points record while also seeing the league attract other high-caliber players such as Heung-min Son, Thomas Muller, and Antoine Griezmann.
It’s clear that the star power in the league has leveled up, and alongside it, so have the levels of what teams can accomplish, which doesn’t go unnoticed by commissioner Don Garber. There was a concern that the recruitment of star players may be limited to Miami with Messi, but that hasn’t been the case as ambitious teams have had no issues securing stars, evident by the recent acquisition of Robert Lewandowski by the Chicago Fire.
“I love the fact that Messi is our guy. He chose to be here,” Garber said. “He passed on every place he needed to go. And I hope there’s another Messi, I hope there’s another Griezmann, I hope there’s another David Beckham, and I hope there’s another Cavan Sullivan, and I hope there’s another [Alex] Freeman.”
There may not be another Messi as the Argentine is proving that he’s one of one when it comes to what he can do, especially after engineering comeback after comeback for Argentina during this World Cup. When asked for whom his pick to win the final would be, New York City FC midfielder Kevin O’Toole didn’t hesitate, saying, “I don’t think you can bet against Messi, so I’ll say Argentina.”
Even if he doesn’t win the World Cup, things like this show how real the Messi effect is around the league and beyond. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg, which is also something that Garber is aware of as the league prepares to switch to a standard European fall-to-spring schedule next year.
“My job is not going to be done until I can see all of the work and investment and passion and energy that’s gone into building MLS go into building a player pool that can make our national team better,” Garber said. “And there’s no secret formula, there’s no magic bullet, there’s no switch that you just flip. Right? It takes time, and it takes a lot more investment.”
A day will come when Messi isn’t in MLS or playing for Argentina, and both will have to prepare for what that looks like. Considering the star power that MLS is attracting to teams that aren’t Miami, it’s moving in the right direction, but those stars will still need to get younger to make sure that the league is in good hands when Messi decides to hang up his cleats.
