“Now is all” is a trademark phrase used by Qatar 2022 organisers. On Sunday, it could not be more apt.
The stage for a grand farewell is set at Lusail Stadium. The audience numbers will be touching 89,000. Billions across the world will be watching.
On paper and the pitch, Argentina will take on France in the World Cup 2022 final at Lusail Stadium. But for the majority, it has been advertised as a Messi show. He’s slated to be the conductor of football’s greatest show reaching its finale, and the boy from Rosario reaching the pinnacle of his career.
That’s what the script says, at least.
Sunday’s culmination of the first World Cup to take place in the Middle East will be Messi’s last outing at the tournament. It’s not so much that he wants to leave that indelible mark on this tournament – and emulate the great Diego Maradona – it’s that he, and the millions following him across the world, want the World Cup to be Messi’s World Cup, his last, his best, his only.
The episodes preceding this finale have certainly highlighted that storyline and pointed to that very happy ending (not for France, of course).
