BENGALURU: The world increasingly feels dystopian. Wars, new and old, playing out on news channels every other day. Conflicts everywhere. Babies as young as three days old pawns in a geopolitical game. You worry if the next Ebola outbreak could be ground zero for another pandemic. Temperature, the basic tenet of human existence, uncontrollable. The spread of AI may lead to a loss of jobs all over the world.
Through it all, one man has continued to spread joy to millions worldwide. Lionel Messi. On Monday morning, as thousands of Arlington residents began a new work week, the Argentine genius scored a 17th World Cup goal to go to a place where no man has gone before in the history of 96-year tournament.
Sport will never be a satisfaction guarantee, but millions still watch it in the hope of an escape, to feel something. To lose themselves for a moment or two. Messi has been that escape for millions for almost two decades. An antidote to everyday life. For the bank teller, for the bus conductor, for the school principal, for the 16-year-old schoolkid... years down the line, these are the days that you will remember.
The former Ajax team manager, David Endt, had once described that the seconds of the greats last longer. Messi's genius — his greatness — has lasted for over 20 years. He didn't need the 17th goal and Miroslav Klose's long-standing record to re-emphasise his place at the apex of men's football. In 2026, nobody really remembers Pele or Diego Maradona for the records they broke. They are, first and foremost, in the minds of scores because they genuinely made people smile a bit longer. They made people happy. Dopamine for battered souls and tired minds.
It's the same thing with the Argentine. In 2022, around the start of the World Cup in Qatar, a senior government official in Argentina was asked for a way around rising inflation. The gist of the answer was it could wait; winning the World Cup assumed greater importance. For a few days, even as the rate of inflation threatened to touch 100 per cent, the country basked in the warm afterglow of a third star. In a country where approximately 40 per cent live below the poverty line, this victory should have meant nothing. Yet, it acted as temporary balm. But considering the 38-year-old was once accused of not caring for the Albiceleste, every achievement with the sky blue is worthy of a celebration in a country of over 45 million (that's before you count the millions all over the world who worship at the altar of Messi). Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona legend and one of the greatest midfielders of all time, is one of those. "I messaged Leo after the Algeria game," he wrote in The Athletic. "I told him that he was a joke, that I could only laugh when I saw what he had done. It was crazy, crazy stuff. But that's Leo. He always turns up at just the right moment. For me, he's incomparable. Incomparable. Almost inhuman."
Less than 24 hours from now, he will turn 39. It's very clear that these are the last days of Messi on a football ground. Savour these moments. Drink it in. And bottle these memories for there will never be another like him.
Arlington is the birthplace of one of the internet's most famous memes. "What da hell is a polar bear doing in Arlington, Texas?" It's to suggest something so hilariously out of place.
In Arlington, Texas, on Monday, Messi quietly rewrote the record books. In the only place he has truly belonged since he started playing over 20 years ago.
A football ground.