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GOAL runs through Lionel Messi's most memorable masterclasses…

Lionel Messi is in perhaps his final World Cup, and so far, so good for the Argentina icon.

His latest performance – a goalscoring effort in the semi-final against Croatia – was one of his most important, though there are certainly many standout efforts over the years to choose from.

There may be more to come, too, with Messi set to make his second World Cup final appearance when Argentina take on holders France in the 2022 showpiece.

GOAL takes a look at some of his best-ever international performances…

Check out even more magic Messi moments!

Lionel Messi's greatest goals of all timeRanked – Messi's best Clasico momentsGettyArgentina 4-0 United States, June 21, 2016

One of Messi's greatest virtues as a player is that he is not just one of the best in scoring goals, he can also set up his team-mates with ease.

The Copa America Centenario semi-final against hosts United States showed off to perfection those two facets of his game.

Not only did he find the net with an outrageous free-kick effort, he also set up another two goals in a 4-0 rout to send the Albiceleste through to the final.

AdvertisementGettyArgentina 3-0 Ecuador, July 3, 2021

More than five years had passed since Messi's last knockout goal for Argentina when Lionel Scaloni's men lined up against Ecuador in the quarter-finals of the Copa America. But while he left it late, the strike truly proved worth the wait.

The Barcelona ace had pulled all the strings for his side throughout the game, playing in both Rodrigo De Paul and Lautaro Martinez for their goals to put Argentina 2-0 ahead. Then, in injury time, it looked as though he would have the chance to add his own when Piero Hincapie appeared to commit a penalty on Angel Di Maria.

A VAR check eventually changed the decision, giving Messi a free-kick on the edge of the box. But it did not change the captain's task much, as he dispatched a glorious effort to notch Argentina's third and round off a brilliant all-round display.

GettyArgentina 3-0 Mexico, July 11, 2007

How different might Messi's international career have turned out if he could have kept Juan Roman Riquelme by his side a little longer?

The two iconic No.10s formed a glittering partnership for the few short years between Leo's emergence and Roman's controversial retirement in 2009 amid rumours of a falling-out with coach Diego Maradona. But they were at least together long enough to give us several unforgettable games.

One of the best was Argentina's Copa America semi-final demolition of Mexico in 2007, as Messi and Riquelme both got on the scoresheet in a dominant 3-0 win.

The then-Barcelona kid netted his side's second of the evening, an outrageous chip that ranks among his very best international goals.

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GettyArgentina 2-1 Bosnia & Herzegovina, June 15, 2014

While Messi was by no means a disappointment at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, his failure to find the net even once as Argentina reached the quarters was a curious anomaly – one he was desperate to correct once the next finals came around.

In Brazil, therefore, he wasted no time in finding the net during a virtuoso display against Bosnia & Herzegovina in Argentina's very first game. "I’d had to wait eight years for my second World Cup goal. We wanted to have a great tournament and started off with a win against Bosnia, and I scored our second goal," he recalled to .

"It all happened very quickly. I picked the ball up near the halfway line and tried to burst towards their penalty area. I played a one-two with Gonzalo Higuain and then shot from the edge of the box. Luckily, it all came off."

England survived another collapse to steal a one-wicket victory off the final ball of the match against West Indies

Vithushan Ehantharajah in Dharamsala24-Mar-2016
ScorecardThe England dugout celebrate their last-ball victory•ICC/GettyFor the second time in the space of three days, England turned a routine canter into a tense trudge through error-infested swampland. Despite a brisk start to their chase of West Indies’ 108 – with 12 overs to go, they required 50 runs and had all ten wickets in hand – it was a bye off the final ball that snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.With two legitimate balls remaining, Rebecca Grundy, England’s No. 11 – in position as well as ability – came to the crease with three runs needed. A wide and then a dab to point gave the more accomplished Natalie Sciver, batting on 19, the strike. With one run needed, she missed a delivery outside off stump from Deandra Dottin and West Indies’ wicketkeeper Merissa Aguilleira, who had adopted a closer position to the stumps without standing all the way up, ran forward before flicking the ball towards them.But her throw went wide, Grundy ran through the crease and England had escaped. Had Aguillera continued her run and removed bails in the manner of MS Dhoni in an identical situation in India’s game against Bangladesh on Wednesday, the game would have been tied. Instead, England are on the brink of the semi-finals.Crucially, this match was not broadcast on television, which meant there were no cameras at the ground, including at square leg. As a result, there was no third umpire. When you consider that Charlotte Edwards survived a sharp stumping attempt early on and an appeal to have Lydia Greenway run out at the non-striker’s end off a straight drive from Sciver was turned down, it could have been all very different.Similarly to the match against India, it was the wicket of Tammy Beaumont that started the collapse. Then, it was 5 for 29 from eight overs – here, 6 for 24 off 39 balls was the almost irreparable damage. But it was again Beaumont’s runs that proved to be the difference.Given the opportunity to open the batting with Charlotte Edwards, Beaumont has been backed by the coach, Mark Robinson, who admitted he was bemused by the contrast between her poor T20I record – she averaged 8.83 going into this tournament – and her ball-striking in practice. Having made her debut in the format back in November 2009, she has never quite been able to nail down a starting spot. And when you look a little closer, you can see why: ridiculously, by the time she had played her 20th innings, Beaumont had batted in every position apart from No. 4 and No. 10.Here, in her 25th innings, she passed 30 for the first time, showcasing what Robinson saw. She dealt in boundaries, including hitting her and England’s second six of the tournament – a crisp pick-up over midwicket as Dottin darted one in on leg stump. It is worth noting England did not clear the ropes at all in their previous World T20 campaign. With Edwards moving along nicely at the other end, the pair brought up England’s first 50-plus opening partnership since April 2014. Up until that point, the team had played a perfectly judged game.The pitch had a bit of pace in it but still gripped, meaning that while West Indies’ top order could hit through the ball, Anya Shrubsole, Jenny Gunn and Grundy were able to reel them in with a bit of finesse. The Powerplay typified this: 34 were scored off the opening six overs, yet two of them were maidens.Shaquana Quintyne, West Indies’ No. 3, got off to a brisk start with 22 off her first 14 balls, but her next 14 produced just seven more before Sciver got her to find Gunn at long-on. Stafanie Taylor and Dottin then decided to take the innings deep and reassess. But, having done the donkey work, their partnership ended at 52, with West Indies managing to score just 12 runs off the final three overs.An indication of just how confounding England’s brain fade was came in the figures of part-timer Afy Fletcher, who took 3 for 12 off her four overs, having only taken three wickets in her previous nine T20Is. It was only when Sciver was joined by Katherine Brunt that the right approach was found: the risky shots were packed away, singles were picked up and the arrears cut down slowly and surely.It was a far from convincing performance. But England can argue that they have not played anywhere near their best and yet still hold a 100% record after three matches.

A blistering spell of pace bowling from Haseeb Amjad decimated Nepal’s batting order for the second match running to set up a much needed five-wicket win for Hong Kong in Stormont

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Belfast15-Jul-2015
Scorecard4:06

‘Our seamers stuck to their plans’ – Burke

A blistering spell of pace bowling from Haseeb Amjad decimated Nepal’s batting order for the second match running to set up a much needed five-wicket win for Hong Kong in Stormont. Haseeb reduced Nepal to 12 for 3 in the fourth over, including the key wickets of Gyanendra Malla and captain Paras Khadka. He finished with 4 for 16 – a Man of the Match effort – as Nepal struggled to 109.After seeing the way Ireland had razed Nepal for 53 after putting them in to bat, Hong Kong captain Tanwir Afzal chose likewise at the toss, and before long Nepal were under heavy pressure.Haseeb broke through nine balls into the match, bowling Subash Khakurel, who was playing his first match of the tournament in place of Anil Mandal. Haseeb pitched short of a length on a wicket-to-wicket line and induced an edge behind from Malla for a second-ball duck. Two overs later, he trapped Khadka with a delivery that hit the Nepal captain high on the pads and South African umpire Johan Cloete took a long time before giving the decision.The pace battery continued to harass Nepal’s struggling batting unit: Irfan Ahmed got Sagar Pun to edge behind at the start of the seventh over to make it 17 for 4 and Basant Regmi gave wicketkeeper Jamie Atkinson his third dismissal. Regmi was Aizaz Khan’s lone wicket in a miserly spell of 1 for 7; Nepal were 31 for 5 in the 10th.Rajesh Pulami and Sharad Vesawkar provided some respite for their struggling side with a 41-run stand but both men were caught on the boundary trying to give Nepal a total they could defend. Amjad came back for the final over to nab Sompal Kami before a run-out off the final ball wrapped up the Nepal innings.Defending 109, Kami removed the dangerous Irfan with the first ball of the second over, and should have had Nizakat Khan for zero two balls later, but a drive to mid-off rocketed through the hands of Jitendra Mukhiya at head height and went all the way to the boundary. Nizakat would go on to top score for Hong Kong with 25.It was the first of at least four clear chances that Nepal missed in an uncharacteristically sloppy fielding effort, with the lone bright spot being a spectacular diving catch at deep backward square leg by Pradeep Airee to remove Mark Chapman for 9. That was the third of four wickets for Regmi, who produced a valiant spell of left-arm spin to match Hong Kong’s Amjad with 4 for 16.Hong Kong needed 11 with two overs to go but a pair of twos by Aizaz was followed by an elegant drive over extra cover off Shakti Gauchan to put them within one stroke of victory, which they achieved with a single off the first ball of the 19th. Aizaz walked off unbeaten on 14 off seven balls while Babar Hayat ended 17 not out.

Calum Haggett hit his maiden first-class half-century to help Kent to a first-innings lead over Gloucestershire on the second day of the Championship match at Bristol

ECB/PA19-May-2015Kent 223 for 9 (Coles 66, Haggett 54) lead Gloucestershire 193 by 30 runs
ScorecardCalum Haggett hit 54 to help Kent recover from 98 for 7 (file photo)•Getty ImagesCalum Haggett hit his maiden first-class half-century to help Kent to a first-innings lead over Gloucestershire on the second day of the Championship match at Bristol.The visitors looked in big trouble when slumping to 98 for 7 in reply to 193. But Haggett and Matt Coles then added 119 in 31 overs either side of tea to change the course of the game. By the time a third interruption by rain ended play with a possible 20 overs remaining, Kent were 223 for 9 and leading by a precious 30 in a match dominated by the seam bowlers.Liam Norwell claimed 3 for 38 from 20 overs to take his tally of first-class wickets for the season to 31 and was well supported by David Payne, who ended the day with figures of 3 for 36 from 14 overs.Both struck during a morning session that featured two rain breaks. Payne made the first breakthrough by having Joe Denly caught behind for 4 and Norwell followed up by removing Brendan Nash, caught in the slips by Chris Dent for 12, and Daniel Bell-Drummond, whose 26 proved the best contribution by any batsman in Kent’s top six.It was 71 for 4 at lunch, with Fabian Cowdrey having been pinned lbw by Kieran Noema-Barnett for 6, and the wickets continued to tumble at the start of the afternoon session.The fourth ball after lunch saw Darren Stevens bowled off an inside edge by Craig Miles and it was 80 for 6 when skipper Sam Northeast was bowled by Norwell for 24. Sam Billings survived a confident appeal for a catch at the wicket off Payne when on 13 and looked to be in good form until frustration at being tied down appeared to get the better of him. He was caught behind for 16 advancing down the pitch to the same bowler.That was as good as it got for Gloucestershire as left-handers Coles and Haggett played with increasing confidence and skill, making batting look easy for the first time.Coles was the more aggressive and after tea had been taken at 183 for 7 he reached an attractive half-century off 65 balls, with four fours and a six. Taunton-born Haggett, who began his career down the M5 at Somerset, was more watchful in overtaking his previous best first-class score of 44, also made against Gloucestershire at Canterbury in 2013.After Coles has been caught and bowled trying to pull the occasional left-arm spin of Dent, Haggett moved to 50 off 149 balls, with four fours. His valuable knock finally ended when he pushed at a wide ball from Payne and edged through to Gareth Roderick. Soon afterwards the skies darkened and a heavy downpour ended play for the day.

Thiago Almada has explained how fellow World Cup winner Lionel Messi “improved” MLS following his stunning move to Inter Miami.

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Argentine icon chasing the American dreamMade an immediate impact in the United StatesFellow countryman looking for move to Europe

WHAT HAPPENED?

The Argentina international, who now has eight Ballon d’Or triumphs to his name, bid farewell to European football when heading to the United States as a free agent in the summer of 2023. Messi made an immediate impact in America, as he inspired Inter Miami to a historic Leagues Cup crown, and has helped to raise both the profile and standard of MLS – with more household names expected to follow in his illustrious footsteps.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT ALMADA SAID ABOUT MESSI

Atlanta United star Almada, who won the 2022 World Cup alongside Messi, has told of how his iconic countryman is raising the game in MLS: “It changed a lot with Messi. The football improved a lot. You can see that a lot more. It’s back and forth, there are a lot of goals. Sometimes it happened to us that we started winning and didn’t build on that, and we ended up losing. When Leo came, he knew more about MLS than I did. I spoke when we faced each other. He arrived and they started winning all the games.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Almada was named MLS Young Player of the Year for 2023 – registering 11 goals and 19 assists during the regular season – and now has his sights set on securing a transfer elsewhere. He added on his own future, as he prepares to tread a path that Messi once did at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain: “I want to go to Europe now. I would like to play in the Spanish La Liga. There was interest from Ajax before, which could not happen. Let's see now.”

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR ALMADA?

Almada is a product of the academy system at Velez Sarsfield, but left his homeland in February 2022 when making his way to Atlanta. The talented 22-year-old now has four senior international caps to his name and will be hoping to earn a place in Argentina’s squad for the 2024 Copa America – which will be staged in the United States.

The first outline of the plan for another anti-establishment Twenty20 league, backed by an Indian company Essel Group, has been revealed by the organisation’s head of finanace and strategy Himanshu Mody

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-20151:23

‘Essel Group must expect cynicism’

The first outline of the plan for another anti-establishment Twenty20 league, backed by the Indian Essel Group, has been revealed by the organisation’s head of finance and strategy Himanshu Mody. The intention is for the tournament to be a T20 competition involving up to 12 teams, though no timeframe had been set for it to take place, and Mody said he did not see players or venues being a problem.The Essel Group was also the organisation that began the rebel ICL in 2007, a T20 league that preceded the IPL but ended in less than two years after its players were banned from mainstream cricket by the cricket boards of various countries under instruction from the BCCI and ICC.Mody said the ICL experience had left them wiser. “The format for what we are building will be the T20 format, home and away games, across 10-12 cities,” Mody told “We are not looking at a short time frame. It could be a year away or even a little more. We know the timing is right but we are equally aware of the pitfalls where BCCI can hit us and are much wiser today.”Besides the right time … the two main ingredients are players and grounds,” Mody said. “We had four grounds in India during ICL and players. We got players even from Pakistan, so I do not see both as a problem at all. On the grounds front, during ICL, we fell short with just four grounds in four cities. Also, we learned we needed eight to 10 teams. So, this time round, we will have to ensure we have more grounds.”The ICC responded to reports of such a venture by setting up a committee comprising its three top officials – chairman N Srinivasan, ECB’s Giles Clarke and CA’s Wally Edwards – to conduct an inquiry and present a report.There had also been unsubstantiated reports of offers of $50 million to David Warner and Michael Clarke to join the rebel league but Edwards had said CA was confident that their players were secure. An NZC official had also said he had not heard of any approaches being made to New Zealand players or venues.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag came to Anthony Martial's defence after his poor performance against Newcastle United at the weekend.

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Ten Hag defends Martial amid criticismSlammed for his performance against NewcastleWill likely face Chelsea on WednesdayWHAT HAPPENED?

The French forward had a forgettable outing in United's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United as he failed to make a mark on the game and was subbed in the 62nd minute. Even manager Ten Hag was left fuming by his poor performance as he was seen shouting at Martial. But now, the Dutch manager has come out in defence of his player amid severe criticism from all quarters, while insisting that the entire team is trying their best to improve themselves after a dire start to the 2023-24 campaign.

AdvertisementWHAT ERIK TEN HAG SAID

Speaking to reporters ahead of a midweek clash with Chelsea, the Red Devils boss said: "Anthony Martial played brilliantly against Everton. I don’t think it’s fair to point to one player. If you have one moment, you can’t make that as a pattern. The week before we played brilliant, lot of energy in the team, spirt, you see all the games before – I mentioned Fulham, Burnley, Brentford, Luton, so many games for evidence. If it was a pattern, these were different. But this is not a pattern, absolutely not. Everyone is giving their best, there is unity as a team."

GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The 28-year-old has experienced an underwhelming campaign so far, managing to score just twice in 18 appearances for the club. With both Marcus Rashford and Martial out of form, Ten Hag's side have been wildly inconsistent. They are on the brink of Champions League elimination and find themselves seventh in the league, 12 points behind league leaders Arsenal.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED?

The Red Devils have a very busy schedule in December. After the game against Chelsea, Ten Hag's side will prepare for a home clash with Bournemouth before a must-win Champions League group stage clash with Bayern Munich. Huge domestic games against Liverpool and West Ham will follow before Christmas Day that could go a long way to deciding whether United make the Premier League's top-four.

Goal readers voted for their favourite players of African origin in the Premier League this week.

Ahead of the 2018 Best of Africa Awards, an evening to honour and celebrate the philanthropic endeavours and achievements of African football players, Goal fans voted through our Instagram account for their own Best of Africa XI – a team made up entirely of Premier League players of African origin.

Due to the lack of African goalkeepers in the Premier League, fans were tasked with choosing between the best African keepers set to appear at this year’s FIFA World Cup to fill the spot between the posts.

It has been a great year for Africans in the Premier League, with Mohamed Salah scoring 31 Premier League goals and putting Liverpool on the cusp of a Champions League final. 

Team-mate Sadio Mane has built on last season's successes, while Wilfried Zaha has become Crystal Palace's key man in their surge towards Premier League survival as almost 300,000 votes were received.

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GettyCB | Eric Bailly | Manchester United

With cyclones Marcia and Lam battering Queensland, the prospects for Saturday’s World Cup game between Australia and Bangladesh look very grim

Daniel Brettig in Brisbane20-Feb-2015If the sky hasn’t quite fallen in on Brisbane, there has been more than enough rain to place Saturday’s fixture between Australia and Bangladesh at the Gabba in grave doubt.An A-League football match scheduled for Friday evening at Suncorp Stadium has been called off, while the southern hemisphere rugby body SANZAR was also debating whether or not to cancel a Super Rugby fixture set for Saturday night at the same venue.Given that neither football nor rugby need cricket’s rain-free weather to take place, the prospects for Brisbane’s only glimpse of the home team at this tournament look very grim indeed. Australia’s captain Michael Clarke, due to return on his February 21 deadline to prove he has recovered from hamstring surgery, was thinking primarily of the Queenslanders currently having their homes battered by the dual cyclones Marcia and Lam.”Our main focus as a team is with the people of Queensland,” Clarke said. “So as much as we would like to get out on that field and continue our form in the World Cup, we need to realise how bad this cyclone is and care most about the people of Queensland, make sure everybody is healthy and safe and our prayers are with a lot of people throughout the State.”Then we’ll worry about the cricket tomorrow. If we get on, we’ll be 100% ready there’s no doubt about that.”Australia have chosen an XI for the match and shared the news with the team on Thursday afternoon, but Clarke declined to announce it lest a shortened fixture tempt the selectors to reconsider. In addition to Clarke for George Bailey, Pat Cummins was in contention to replace Josh Hazlewood. Clarke wanted his men to remain optimistic about getting on the pitch, having seen the Gabba’s highly efficient drainage at work in the past.”I spoke to the boys briefly about that in our team meeting yesterday,” he said. “The fact that I’ve seen it a number of times in my career when you look outside the window, especially in Brisbane, and it looks like you’re not going to play. I think we saw that against England in the first Ashes Test as well, and then an hour later you’re on the field so I think that’s credit to the people that look after the ground here.”The drainage facility here is as good as anywhere in the world. My mindset and the team’s mindset is to make sure we’re as well prepared as we can be, and then tomorrow our mind is the game is going to go ahead. Up until we’re told that the game is off, we’re expecting to play. Whether that’s a 50-over game or a Twenty20 doesn’t bother us. We are, and will be, as well prepared as we can be.”The World Cup’s local organising committee released a statement on Friday afternoon concerning doubts over the match going ahead.”ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 organisers are working closely with authorities in Queensland regarding tomorrow’s match between Australia and Bangladesh given the extreme weather situation in the State and the forecasts for ongoing rain in Brisbane,” a spokesman said. “Our thoughts are with the people affected.”However as there is no reserve day for pool matches, we will continue to prepare in the hope that the match can go ahead. The ICC match officials will make a decision on the match tomorrow based on conditions at the time. A match can be successfully completed if each side has minimum of 20 overs which means that it is still possible to achieve a result with a start after the scheduled innings break.”A no-result would be a considerable boost to Bangladesh’s chances of progressing from Group A, particularly after England’s dismantling by New Zealand in Wellington on Friday.

Jim Allenby produced figures of 5 for 56 as Glamorgan had the better of the opening day of their County Championship Division Two clash with Essex at Swansea

Press Association15-Aug-2014
ScorecardJim Allenby picked up a five-wicket haul•Getty ImagesJim Allenby produced figures of 5 for 56 as Glamorgan had the better of the opening day of their County Championship Division Two clash with Essex at Swansea.The allrounder took three wickets in the space of five overs and then mopped up the tail as Essex lost their last six wickets for the addition of only 66 runs. Essex were bowled out for 286, with the main contributions coming from openers Tom Westley and Nick Browne, who made 60 and 73 respectively.In reply, Glamorgan finished the first day on 27 for one, 259 behind, having lost Will Bragg to a catch behind off Monty Panesar two overs from the close. That brought nightwatchman Andrew Salter to the middle.On a placid Swansea wicket, Essex chose to bat first and by lunch had reached a respectable 102 for 2. The mainstay of the early Essex batting was Westley, who celebrated a fresh two-year contract with an impressive half-century which came up off 62 balls and included 10 fours.His partner Browne was rather more watchful but he had to watch two wickets fall at the other end. Dean Cosker, the slow left-armer, was introduced into the attack in the 19th over and in his third over grabbed the breakthrough.He claimed the wicket of Westley, who was bowled attempting to sweep. He went for 60 from 79 balls to leave the visitors 79 for one. That became 91 for 2 when Cosker struck again to have dangerman Ravi Bopara caught by Allenby at slip for only 4. In the over before lunch Browne, on 31, survived a very confident lbw appeal after he padded up to a ball from Cosker.It took the introduction of spin from the pavilion end to earn Glamorgan their first bowling point when New Zealander Jesse Ryder was caught behind cutting off Andrew Salter’s opening over.From 126 for 3, Essex enjoyed a useful partnership of 70 between Browne and James Foster before three wickets fell for the addition of only 28 runs either side of tea.Foster, who on 35 had been lucky not to give a return catch to Harris, added only four more before the bowler had his revenge as the Essex captain edged a drive behind. Allenby struck twice in two overs, firstly ending Browne’s stay after he had reached 73 from 194 balls. He was caught by wicketkeeper Wallace, who also accounted for Graham Smith.Essex’s innings came to a rather quick end as Graham Napier miscued Allenby to Hogan at mid-off before the final three batsmen all went leg before. The wickets of Ryan ten Doeschate, out for 46, and Panesar, dismissed for a duck, gave Allenby his five-wicket haul.