Could This Be Lionel Messi’s Last World Cup?

Lionel Messi and his Argentina side were staring down the face of elimination Tuesday against Nigeria. The game was locked at 1-1 until Marcos Rojo of all people decided to venture into the box and crash a volley home to give La Albiceleste the victory. Rojo's goal also gave us one of the best commentary calls of the World Cup, if not the best.

#MundialTelemundo ¡Milagro! Marcos Rojo apareció en el área y le está dando el triunfo a #ARG sobre #NGA . Lo sigues por @Telemundo pic.twitter.com/JLQrI0NAwA

— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 26, 2018

Messi scored the opening goal in what was a beautiful move, from Messi’s movement to get away from his defender, Ever Banega’s pass over the top and then the composure to bury the ball in the back of the net. But could that be Messi’s last significant impact at a World Cup? Well, it could definitely happen, and here’s why.

#MundialTelemundo ¡Golazo! de #Messi y #ARG ya lo gana sobre #NGA . Así lo narra @AndresCantorGOL pic.twitter.com/U7qdX3We9C

— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 26, 2018

Imagine the feeling of losing three finals in the space of three years. Unfortunately for Messi, he had to experience that. A 1-0 loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final and two consecutive losses to Chile on penalties in the final of the Copa America led Messi to retire from international duties. 

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Can you blame him? It’s a fair thing to do. You feel that no matter what you do, you just can’t win. With Messi widely considered by many people to be the best player to ever play the game, it is a tough pill to swallow knowing you couldn’t help the team to that last victory. 

Now that Messi is 31 years old, he will be 35 by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. If you don’t know about the weather in Qatar, it is hot. Really, really hot. Can you imagine Messi wanting to run around in the ridiculous heat? Me neither. 

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The Argentinian squad itself is at a crossroads too. The nucleus from the 2014 World Cup team isn’t getting any younger, and the younger players in the 2018 World Cup team haven’t shown much promise when they have been given game time. Does Messi really want to put himself in a team where it’s almost a foregone conclusion that they won’t be a strong contender? We can’t see that happening.

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Given that Messi will be 35 years old, will he even still be playing at Barcelona? He has said numerous times he wants to retire at Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina, the club where it all began for him. It seems that playing in Argentina will be Messi’s way of saying goodbye to soccer forever, and he can gracefully ride off into the sunset. It’s likely that he will just want to enjoy playing for his boyhood club and give something back to them as opposed to playing for Argentina when he is likely to get continually frustrated on the pitch.

Whatever happens, we should all be delighted that we got to live in an era where we witnessed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, two of the greatest players to ever play the game. But eventually both of these players will have to hang up the boots. For Lionel Messi, his international career likely won’t make it to the 2022 World Cup. Soak up the last time you will see Messi playing at a World Cup, because it ain’t gonna happen again.