Four minutes from full-time at St Petersburg's Krestovsky Stadium there was bedlam everywhere. In the stands, Argentina fans descended into a mass of limbs.
Their flagrant basket-case of a team had just averted group-stage elimination at the 2018 World Cup thanks to a late winner against Nigeria. Diego Maradona has lost whatever semblance of the plot that the Hand of God was able to keep a grasp of. The national hero has been an erratic presence throughout this 2-1 victory.
An hour or so after full-time, there were a number of simultaneous rumours over his whereabouts — he'd been taken ill; he was in the hospital; he was still partying in the stadium; he'd gone to bed.
Some of those journalists engaged in a game of "Where's Diego?" had been struggling to keep it together themselves when the decisive goal went in. One Argentinian journalist was asking anyone within earshot who the goalscorer was before running off in celebration. "Was it Enzo Perez?! Enzo Perez?!" he shouted.
The ineffective Perez had been substituted almost half an hour beforehand, although what centre-back Marcos Rojo was doing in the opposition box to smash home a volley was anyone's guess.
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Down on the pitch in the middle of the mayhem having leapt onto Rojo's back was Lionel Messi, enjoying a moment that explained exactly why he'd gone back on his international retirement amid a game and a tournament that did plenty to highlight why he'd retired in the first place.
Messi's emotionally fuelled decision to walk away after the Copa America Centenario only held for six weeks. By August 2016, he was back in the fold after talks with new head coach Edgardo Bauza and scored the winner in a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Uruguay the following month.
"I see there are many problems in Argentinian football and I don't intend to create another one," he said. "I don't want to cause any damage, I've always tried to do just the opposite, to help all that I can."
Persuading Messi to return stood as the high point of Bauza's reign and it was a good job he managed it. His Argentina simply did not win games without the number 10, who missed the three qualifiers after the Uruguay victory with muscular problems.
Draws with Venezuela and Peru were followed by a loss to Paraguay and Messi could not avert a 3-0 thumping at the hands of Brazil. The superstar forward was suspended for a 2-0 reverse in Bolivia in March 2017.
The following month, newly elected AFA president Claudio Tapia sacked Bauza as 11 points from his eight games in charge left Argentina's hopes of reaching the 2018 World Cup in peril.
MORE: MESSI & RONALDO: DESTINATION MUNDIAL | HOME
The AFA had tried various approaches when it came to finding the right coach for Messi, from the messiah (Diego Maradona) to a proven winner such as Bauza, who had two Copa Libertadores titles to his name. This time around, they appeared to be onto a winner.
Jorge Sampaoli led Chile to their Copa America triumph at Argentina's expense in 2015. Having been linked to Chelsea prior to the season, he took charge of Sevilla for 2016/17, leading the club to Champions League qualification and masterminding a famous 2-1 win over Real Madrid that halted a 40-match unbeaten run for the European champions.
Sampaoli's stock was such that a plum European club job was potentially on the cards, meaning it was a coup for Argentina to secure his services. The prospect of leading Messi at the final World Cup of his peak years was undoubtedly central to the appeal. Like so many of the changes of course over the previous decade, however, an immediate upturn was not forthcoming.
Argentina drew their first three qualifiers under Sampaoli, leaving them needing to beat Ecuador at Quito's punishing altitude to progress. They duly fell behind to a Romario Ibarra goal after 38 seconds.
Messi responded by digging into his reserves to produce one of the great international performances of modern times, compiling a stunning hat-trick to seal 3-1 win and book a place in Russia. Given the show Argentina made of themselves at the finals, it became tempting to suggest that he needn't have bothered.
In the months between Messi's mountain-top masterclass and the tournament proper, Sampaoli rattled through various configurations of players and formations at a rate that soon made experimentation look like panic.
Sergio Aguero rifled in a fine first-half opener against Iceland in the first group game but Alfred Finnbogason swiftly found an equaliser. Messi had a second-half penalty saved and Argentina could not force a winner.
🇮🇸🌍🥳#OnThisDay in 2018, Iceland became the smallest nation ever to compete at the #WorldCup - and marked the occasion by drawing 1-1 with Messi's Argentina. @footballiceland | @A_Finnbogason pic.twitter.com/KhD9rwMeud
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 16, 2021
Embarrassing but not a disaster against an Iceland side that held Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal and did far worse to England at Euro 2016. But Sampaoli saw fit to depart from his signature high line and revert to an untried 3-4-3 for the next match against Croatia.
It proved to be a horrific misstep as Argentina were completely devoid of cohesion during a forgettable first half before unravelling spectacularly during the second period.
The breakthrough arrived in the slapstick style as goalkeeper Willy Caballero attempted to chip a pass over Ante Rebic and merely succeeded in setting up the Croatia forward to volley home. Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, who enjoyed total dominance over a ragged Argentina midfield, piled on the misery to round off a 3-0 win.
It meant Sampaoli's team needed to beat Nigeria in their final group game and hope an already-qualified Croatia did not down tools versus Iceland.
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The main question on the eve of the showdown with Nigeria was whether or not it was actually Sampaoli's team anymore. The Argentinian press was full of reports that the camp was in mutiny and that senior players would select the team from that point, with their coach nothing more than a figurehead, claims that veteran midfielder Javier Mascherano denied.
Argentina's formation and personnel changed again, but the evidence of Sampaoli's tenure up until that point meant it hardly amounted to a gotcha. As he did in Ecuador, Messi rose to the occasion with a magical opener, bringing a superb pass from Ever Banega under his spell with two deft touches and rifling home right-footed. In his box, Maradona crossed his arms over his chest and screamed maniacally to the heavens.
The captain then struck the post with a free-kick but Argentina could not build upon his inspiration. An increasingly nervous performance took a wrong turn when alleged player-coach Mascherano conceded a penalty that Victor Moses converted. Rojo was the unlikely hero in a spectacular denouement, but it merely prolonged the inevitable.
¡Lionel Messi, siempre genial! 🤩🇦🇷
— CONMEBOL.com (@CONMEBOL) October 2, 2022
Contra Nigeria, el crack de @Argentina anotó uno de los mejores goles de la @FIFAWorldCup 2018 🏆#49DaysToGo #CreeEnTuContinente pic.twitter.com/M5U3vMTW6l
Angel Di Maria scored a screamer and La Albiceleste briefly led early in the second half against France, only to have Kylian Mbappe tear their accident-prone defence to ribbons as Les Bleus ran out 4-3 winners.
Unlike in their 2014-2016 failures, Argentina had no cause to feel hard done by or unlucky. They had been miles off throughout, completely squandering Messi's final shot at glory while near the peak of his powers.
Mbappe looked like the future as his own excellence started to appear in the rearview mirror. Messi did float a sumptuous pass in stoppage time for Aguero to head Argentina's third.
Given that slither of a chance and needing one last attack, Nicolas Otamendi decided to smash the ball into a prone Paul Pogba's backside to prompt a mass brawl. France were through.
Once again, you wondered why on earth Messi bothered.
Credits and acknowledgements
The Sporting News was fortunate enough to speak to a number of experts on Portuguese and Argentine football to enhance the Messi & Ronaldo: Destination Mundial series. We would like to thank the following people for their time and input – please do check out their superb work.
Santi Bauza: Argentinian football journalist and content creator, whose credits include Copa 90, CNN and Hand of Pod.
Dan Edwards: Freelance football journalist based in Argentina, formerly the long-time South America correspondent for Goal.com.
Peter Coates: Editor of Golazo Argentino.
Simon Curtis: Portuguese football expert and co-author of The Thirteenth Chapter.
Aaron Barton: Creator of English-language Portuguese football destination Proxima Journada.
Tom Kundert: Creator of PortuGOAL and co-author of The Thirteenth Chapter
Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg: Wall Street Journal sports reporters and authors of Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World's Game
READ: PART 11| RECORDS AND REGRESSION (Published Sunday, November 20 12:00 GMT/ 07:00 ET)
