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Messi on the brink of history – will it be his last World Cup game?
Argentina are one win away from sporting immortality.
Lionel Scaloni’s side are bidding to become just the third team to win successive World Cups, after Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962).
If they are to pip European champions Spain to the crown, they will need Lionel Messi to be at his best. Again.
Is he the greatest of all time?
Whatever your response to that statement – and it could be debated for hours – it cannot be denied that the Argentine maestro is among the best players to ever set foot on a pitch.
Win on Sunday and Messi will become the first captain to lift the World Cup trophy twice.
After perhaps underwhelming in his first four tournaments, he was outstanding in 2022 – as Argentina won the trophy – and is now just one goal behind Kylian Mbappe in his bid to become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer.
It is remarkable to think that Messi initially retired from international football back in 2016 before changing his mind.
Sunday’s World Cup final will be his 34th appearance in the competition, but will it be the last we see of Messi in the famous blue and white stripes?
BBC Sport looks at what might be next for the great man – and could he even aim to play at a seventh World Cup in 2030?
If Messi decides to carry on with Argentina to 2030, then he would become the oldest outfield player to appear at a World Cup, at the age of 43 – unless, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo opts to keep going for Portugal.
Not only could Messi add a new record to his long list, but he would have the chance to play in one of the centenary matches held in Argentina at the start of the next World Cup.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague doesn’t think this is the last fans will be seeing of Messi at the World Cup.
“Even if you hear it is the end, I doubt it but we’ll see. I just see him with the national side, simply because he enjoys it,” he said.
“I don’t see him being at Inter Miami in the MLS, still performing and then saying that’s it and he’s going to play out the rest of his career with Inter Miami.”
Messi’s 2026 World Cup has been nothing short of sensational. He has scored eight goals in seven games – two goals behind tournament top scorer Mbappe – and has carried Argentina into the final with a series of virtuoso performances.
Argentina boss Scaloni hailed Messi as the greatest player ever, saying: “He is history, a legend. I feel proud, he is the best footballer the world has ever seen and reaching a final at 39 is something unbelievable – and that is why I said we must enjoy him.
“With Diego Maradona, we still miss him but Messi is still with us so we must enjoy him.
“I have no idea if this is Leo’s last game, you will have to ask him. We haven’t discussed it.”
His displays in North America continue a quite remarkable late career resurgence for Messi at World Cups. Fifteen of his 21 tournament goals have come since his 35th birthday.
Having already lifted the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Messi showed he had the motivation to keep going in 2026. The question is whether that continues to 2030.
“I feel that he hasn’t said the last word yet,” said Balague. “He finishes games, 120-minute games, at 39.
“In the first 90 minutes against Cape Verde, he covered 6.5km and 62% of that is walking.
“You can add a bit more walking. The passion is still there. All of that means he’s not going to leave the national side.”
There is also the factor of Messi playing at a World Cup in front of a home crowd.
The 2030 World Cup will have six host nations. While the majority of matches will take place in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, at least one game will be played in each of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. A world stage game in front of an Argentine crowd may be too much for Messi to resist.
Messi himself hinted that the 2022 final would be his international swansong.
“I am very happy for finishing my journey in World Cups in a final, to play the last game in a final. That is really very gratifying,” he said before the 2022 showpiece.
“There are a lot of years from this year to the next one. I don’t think I will be able to do that. To finish this way is brilliant.”
That has obviously proved to not be the case. So regardless of what might be said after the 2026 final, keep an eye on 2030.
[BBC]
US President Donald Trump has imposed a 50% tariff on a wide range of goods imported from Canada, in retaliation for what he called “unequal treatment” of US cars, dairy and alcohol.
Everyday consumer items like wine and hockey sticks and industrial goods such as cement are among the goods targeted. However, several key exports will be spared, such as energy, potash, critical minerals and fish.
Prime Minister Mark Carney responded by saying Canada stood ready to “intensify” trade talks with US in the coming weeks.
The White House said the duties would take effect in 30 days and mark a major escalation in trade tensions between the North American neighbours.
The new duties apply to all covered goods regardless of whether the product was included under the existing free trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico, known as the USMCA.
“This is the latest in a series of unilateral US trade actions that began with the US imposing a series of tariffs in direct violation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement,” Carney said in a statement on X.
He also cited “threats to Canadian sovereignty”, a possible reference to Trump’s calls to make America’s northern neighbour the 51st US state.
Monday’s import taxes build on trade barriers already in place between the two nations.
The US has been maintaining active tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on Canadian steel, aluminum and copper. Washington also charges a 35% tariff on Canadian softwood lumber, alongside a 25% tax on non-US parts in cars.
Canada has its own 25% counter-tariff on selected imports of American steel, aluminium and vehicles.
Monday’s duties come in the wake of President Trump’s threat to impose tariffs over Canadian wildfire smoke drifting into US cities.
But there is no mention of wildfires in the executive orders that Trump signed on Monday.
Instead, the three proclamations list US trade irritants that were previously known to Canada related to cars, dairy and alcohol – signalling a breakdown of trade negotiations between the two countries.
On cars, Trump is accusing Canada of charging a tax on US motor vehicles and parts that are not covered under USMCA.
He argues it is “unreasonable” and that Canada has discriminated against the US by not charging other countries a similar tax.
Automotive manufacturing in North America is highly integrated between Canada, the US and Mexico.
But Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said in the past that he believes Canada should “come second” to the US.
Trump has also named cars in the past as one issue where the two countries have competing interests.
Dairy, meanwhile, has long been a problem for the US, specifically Canada’s supply management system, which sets limits on foreign imports. Those that exceed the limit are charged a tariff upwards of 300%.
And lastly, the enduring boycott of US booze by most Canadian provinces has become a major sore point for the Americans since it was imposed last year.
Canadian premiers have said repeatedly that the boycott will be lifted if the US removes its tariffs on key Canadian sectors, including metals and automobiles.
Canadian trade negotiators have been working on trying to secure a deal that would at least reduce some of the current US tariffs.
The BBC has contacted the White House and the Canadian government for comment.
Earlier this year, the US chose not to renew the USMCA in its current form.
Canada and Mexico sought a renewal of the trade agreement, but the US wants to make changes to the deal, which was negotiated during Trump’s first term in office.
As it stands, the treaty will continue to govern North American trade over the next decade on a rolling basis, requiring annual reviews.
In February, the US Supreme Court struck down sweeping international tariffs imposed by Trump through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977.
The justices ruled that the president had exceeded his authority when he announced the duties under a law reserved for national emergencies.
The White House vowed at the time that it would invoke other mechanisms to impose import taxes.
(BBC)
An Australian woman has given birth to rare, naturally-conceived identical quadruplets after a pregnancy described as “extremely high risk” by the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
The four girls, who were delivered via caesarean section at 28 weeks and four days on 14 July, were monozygotic quadruplets – where a single fertilised egg splits into four embryos.
The hospital said the girls’ mother, 34-year-old Jenitar Na’amoana, and her husband Jortham, already had four children and were taken by “immense surprise” when told to expect quadruplets.
Dr Alexa Bendall, who cared for the mother from the start of her pregnancy, estimated identical quadruplets occur “at one in every 15 million pregnancies” and said “but to share the same placenta – this is unheard of”.
Bendall, who is a maternal foetal medicine specialist and obstetrician, said such a pregnancy was very high-risk, with the hospital admitting Na’amoana as an inpatient at 25 weeks so she could be monitored.
“We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well,” Bendall said.
“So the fact that we’ve got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible and we’re very happy to be a part of it,” she added.
“Jenitar has taken everything in her stride from day one… she has somehow dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies,” Bendall said.
The newborn girls have been named Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and also Alexa, after Alexa Bendall, who described it as “a beautiful tribute”.
The babies will stay in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit until they grow to full term and are “currently doing extremely well”, Bendall added.
The parents’ other children are between one and 10 years old and the mother has recently launched an online fundraising campaign to help buy a van with at least 10 seats.
In a message alongside the fundraiser, which has already received over A$37,000 (£19,261) in donations, Na’amoana wrote: “Our four precious miracles have arrived safely, and while our hearts are overflowing with gratitude, the reality of caring for four newborns at once has brought challenges we never could have imagined.”
Naturally conceived quadruplets are extremely rare, with doctors estimating the odds at about one in 700,000 births.
(BBC)
Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute to lift Spain to their second World Cup title with a 1-0 win im extra time over 10-man Argentina in the final.
Torres’s deserved winner on Sunday came 16 years and eight days after Andres Iniesta also scored in extra time to lift the Spaniards to their first World Championship with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands.
It came on La Roja’s 20th shot in the contest against defending champions Argentina that failed to manage any to that point and struggled to wrest possession away from their superior Iberian opponents.
That was true at even strength and became more difficult when La Albiceleste’s numbers were reduced when Enzo Fernandez’s late challenge on Pau Cubarsi left referee Slavko Vincic no choice but to produce a second caution just before the end of normal time.
Spain remain the only nation ever to win a European Championship and World Cup in successive tournaments, having now done so a second time. They are also the first World Cup champions ever to concede only once across an entire tournament.
Lionel Messi’s Argentina failed to earn a title for the first time in three major tournaments, having also captured the 2021 and 2024 Copa Americas either side of their 2022 World Cup triumph.
The 39-year-old eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi finished the competition with eight goals and four assists, but had little time on the ball in the final until Spain finally took the lead. And he never seriously looked like he would lift his side to another great moment as he has so many times in the last two World Cup cycles.
Emi Martinez made 11 saves for La Albiceleste, who fell short in their bid to be the first consecutive World Cup champions since Brazil won the 1958 and 1962 titles.
What had felt so difficult for the first 105 minutes suddenly looked easy after 37 seconds of play in the second period of extra time.
Pedro Porro curled in an out-swinging cross from the left to the back post, Nico Williams won the header and nodded it back into space, and Torres hammered a half-volley at last past the flailing Martinez.
It was his only goal of the tournament, making him the seventh player to score during a tournament in which his side never trailed.
Asked about his goal, Torres said after the game: “Honestly, I didn’t think too much. I just saw the ball coming to me, and I just shot with the power of all the Spanish people.”
The win made Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, at 65, the oldest coach ever to lead a team to the World Cup title
“We are world champions,” de la Fuente said. “It was together we reached this stage.”
There was some pushing and shoving after the final whistle, which was quickly cleaned up, and Spain commenced their celebration as most Argentina players sat on the turf in disbelief.
Cooler heads prevailed, and Spain’s players lined up minutes later to form an honour guard of sorts for Argentina’s squad to walk through on their way to the stage for the runner-up medals.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni admitted that Spain were the better team.
“They were the better side – that’s the truth – but I’ll cherish the memory of them [his side], of what they achieved, and of the value of making it this far,” Scaloni said.
“We have to place immense value on this, because it takes so much effort.”
(Aljazeera)
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