Nicky Helfgott from Buenos Aires
Lionel Messi in Argentina is the closest thing to a living deity that I have ever seen. I was too young to witness the effects Michael Jackson had on touring cities, or perhaps what Michael Jordan was to Chicago, but Messi unquestionably surpasses them both.
After 20 years of national service, on Thursday night, Messi surely played his final game in Argentina. The atmosphere was cathartic in the Estadio Mas Monumental. Usually a cauldron of River Plate boisterousness, the stadium became a shrine to Messi. Whether Boca or River, working class or wealthy, Porteño or provincial, everyone was united, a true rarity in Argentina. Only one man has the power to do that.
Messi stood in tears as 80,000 disciples rapturously belted out his name. Coach Lionel Scaloni looked emotional as he embraced Leo’s young children on the sideline. Emiliano Martinez, known for his shithousery and cold-bloodedness, stood bawling next to El Mago. The very presence of Messi can make grown men cry.
No player in football history has a better moment like this. Leo Messi 🐐
— Kwesi (@KwesiFCB) September 5, 2025
pic.twitter.com/9GM2E1X0jG
Buenos Aires is the most well-read city in the world, with more psychoanalysts per capita than any other city in the world. But animal instincts take over when Argentina play, and I mean that in the best of ways.
Not only the fans though, the players too. Although, in a way, they’re superfans just like anyone else. Watch how Rodrigo de Paul acts as an on-pitch bodyguard for Messi, as if anyone would dare to breathe in the presence of Argentina’s prodigal son. Julian Alvarez was presented with an easy chance in the 39th minute against Venezuela. Instead of shooting, he sought out Messi to get him a goal on his special night. Messi delivered with an impudent chip to set off the rampant fans.
🐐 The legendary Lionel Messi reaches 114 international goals, surpassing the combined total of Ronaldo Nazário and Thierry Henry 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/Qo2jJi4sJZ
— 365Scores (@365Scores) September 5, 2025
After the 3-0 dispatching of Venezuela, with two inevitable Messi goals, love poured out in all forms.
- Alexis Mac Allister: “With the hope that it won’t be your last game at home! Thank you for so much football, for teaching us to never give up and to always want more”
- Rodrigo De Paul: “I don’t know until when, but I’ll enjoy you like its’s the first one until the end, maestro.”
- Nicolas Otamendi: “The show must go on, dwarf…”
The only person slightly spoiling the party was, well, Messi himself.
“Same as I said before about the World Cup that I don’t think I’ll play another,” Messi to TyC Sports.
“Because of my age, the most logical thing is that I won’t make it. But well, we’re almost there so I’m excited and motivated to play it. Like I always say, I go day by day, match by match, trying to feel good and above all, being honest with myself. When I feel good, I enjoy it, but when I don’t, honestly, I don’t have a good time, so I prefer not to be there if I don’t feel good. So we’ll see. I haven’t made a decision about the World Cup.
Messi not playing in USA would break hearts. Of everyone. Obviously Argentinians wants Messi there, but the World Cup organisers need Messi to play to get bums on seats. In America, not many football players carry any weight at all. Underlapping full-backs, xGOT, and false nines would bore the average American fans. They need glitz and glamour. They need superstars. Simply, they need Messi.
Football in Argentina has an almost mythical reputation worldwide. It spawned the world’s greatest player (this is coming from a United and Ronaldo fan). It hosts the world’s most impassioned and fiery derby. It lives, breathes and dreams about football. Its people seem to love Messi more than their own families. Fair enough, their abuelitas couldn’t turn Jerome Boateng inside-out like the little wizard, let alone chip Manuel Neuer afterwards.
🇦🇷 The Last Dance on Home Soil 🐐
— 365Scores (@365Scores) September 4, 2025
From heartbreak to glory, Lionel Messi’s journey with Argentina has been nothing short of legendary. This match against Venezuela wasn’t just another World Cup qualifier—it was a farewell to the fans, the stadiums, and the streets that shaped… pic.twitter.com/LK9b44eMZb
I had an unscratchable itch to discover whether all this were true. I live and breathe football, but if I talk to the waiter in my local Indian about a Ruben Loftus-Cheek, he’d tell me that they don’t serve that dish. Surely not everyone in Argentina could analyse how Lisandro Martinez’s linebreaking passes open up space for Alexis MacAllister to receive the ball further up the pitch?
Upon finding out I was from the UK, Argentinians predominantly engaged me in two matters. The Falkland Islands (las Islas Malvinas) and football. Naturally, I was far more excited to talk about the latter. I’m far better at conversing in my broken Spanish when the subject is Carrington rather than Foreign Secretary Peter Carington, or Marcus Thuram instead of Margaret Thatcher.
Unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been though, EVERYONE wanted to talk about football. It is the country with the most football players, according to FIFA It wasn’t just small-talk. Every taxi driver engaged me with in-depth analysis of the Premier League. Jorge, a former player of San Lorenzo, broke down how Garnacho’s problems at Manchester United correspond with what they say about him here in Argentina. Alejandro (not Garnacho), gave a deep explanation of the 18 professional teams in Buenos Aires. Luis was watching football TikToks as he cruised down Avenida Santa Fe.
On Wednesday evening, I dined barside at an Asian-Argentinian fusion restaurant (sidenote but Niño Gordo if you’re ever in Buenos Aires is very tasty). Conversation with my neighbour ensued. We spoke about football, obviously. He’d come cross-country to see Messi on Thursday night. The chefs chimed in, eager to praise their hero. I asked about the infamous celebrations at the Obelisco in December 2022. Eyes widened and whitened. ‘Fiesta de tres días. No se habló de nada más‘ (a three day party, we didn’t talk about anything else).
As I cruised the streets of the beautiful capital, I crossed both Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi streets. I’m still waiting for ‘David Beckham Road’ or ‘Bobby Charlton Close’ in London. I passed the restaurant Don Julio at which Messi was mobbed two years ago. Locals caught wind that Messi was enjoying some asado at the renowned steakhouse, and although the parilla joint has no shortage of bookings, it’s never been quite as buzzy as that.
Murals of Maradona and Messi were everywhere. It was more strange to see a street without them. Even the wall above my hostel bed was adorned with Diego and Leo, side by side. I’ve never slept so peacefully.
On my first night, I became a newly minted River Plate fan, watching them ease past San Martin. Fireworks erupted pre-match. The lightshow illiuminated the ground, and the stadium bounced with anticipation and excitement throughout. It was boisterous, but familial. Three generations of sons, huddling together, was common. River, founded by English immigrants to Argentina in 1901, is ingrained in the lives of their fans. Other fans downed fernet and Coca-Cola pre-match, ready to create a buzz. I stood in awe of the football cathedral, geographically on the opposite side of the world but in the heart of my football-centric one.
In the newly opened Museo del Fútbol, Lorenzo and Jony showed me round their vast collection of shirts. Passion poured out of each word as we sipped coffee and sat around and named old football players. We did indeed have the best time. Jony was particularly excited to tell me about Daniel Cordone, a fellow local. He pulled up with pride a picture of Newcastle’s Cordone nutmegging David Beckham in the early 2000s. ‘Caño’ (nutmeg) he grinned. @EMHudsonlives didn’t tell one word of a lie.
Dudes can literally just sit around and name old sports players and just have the best time.
— E.M. Hudson (@EMHudsonlives) July 15, 2021
Football is a lingua franca in Argentina. Everybody speaks the language of football. Partially, this comes down to the escapism that the national team can provide. Argentinians have not had it easy. Ever. Their football teams success offers a relief that nothing else can. And it doesn’t discriminate. Argentina winning is a win for the people of Argentina. All the people. Societal fractures are bandaged up when Messi takes to the pitch.
Argentina thrives when the country needs it to most. It unites the people at critical junctures of its history. In 1978, Argentina was under military dictatorship and carrying out its guerra sucia against dissidents of the regime. The country was falling apart They won the World Cup. In 1986, the junta had ended, but Argentina was reeling from the loss of the war over the Falkland Islands in 1982. Diego Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ and ‘goal of the century’ both against England eased some of that pain on the way to a second World Cup in three tournaments.
Most recently, in 2022, the backdrop of Maradona’s death, economic instability and inflation were, and for the most part still are, ravaging the people of Argentina. Thousands of people regularly took to the streets of the capital to protest the unbridled inflation that stifled any economic progress. Yet, issues of hunger, unemployment, and corruption paused for celebrations of La Albiceleste. The enormous weight of the 46 million expectant Argentines hung on Messi’s sylphlike shoulders. He delivered. Argentina rejoiced.
They’re expecting their magician to give them one last dance. But would it change his reputation if he can’t allow lightning to strike twice? He’ll turn 39 during the next World Cup. But his eternal archrival, Cristiano Ronaldo (41 in February), the Homelander to Sister Sage, will naturally be there. The world is desperate a final showdown, surely Messi delivers it. He wrote on Instagram that ‘whatever happens and whatever the future holds, only God knows’. In Argentina, that can be translated as ‘the future is in Messi’s hands’.
If he doesn’t, there can be no complaints, however. There can only be gratitude for what Messi has done for football, and what he has done for Argentina. Thanks, Leo.
By Nicky Helfgott – NickyHelfgott1 on X (Twitter)
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