In the middle of Argentina’s celebrations for sealing a spot in the FIFA World Cup2026 final, Lionel Messi found something that completely took his mind away from the game. In a video that has surfaced on social media, Messi and the rest of the Argentina players could be seen engrossed in reading the penalty notes that were pasted on the water bottle of England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, after the conclusion of the semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday. While pasting such notes on the water bottle is a common practice, Messi was intrigued to see how in-depth England’s preparations were.
It was Nico Gonzalez who held the bottle for Messi as the Argentina captain tried to read the penalty notes. For Messi, the notes suggested that Pickford should take left and dive right.
Argentina players started laughing when they saw Pickford’s water bottle with their names written on it just in case it ends in a penalty shootout. pic.twitter.com/AuUUk9dSev
— valentine (@valentineezz2) July 16, 2026
As the match concluded in a 2-1 win for Argentina, England captain Harry Kane had nothing but praise for his counterpart.
“Leo is still performing at the highest level,” England captain Harry Kane said. “I felt like for large parts of the game, we dealt with him really well. But as always with the most dangerous players in the world, when they have the ball in the final third, they can be place-setters. And he did that again today. He’s obviously one of the best players ever for a reason.”
Eight days after an improbable rally against Egypt in the round of 16, Messi returned to Atlanta to produce another stellar moment in a career that might already be the best of anyone to play the sport.
England was surely envisioning going for its first World Cup title since its only one six decades ago after a 55th-minute goal from Anthony Gordon.
But Messi and his blue-clad teammates, as they have shown over and over again, are never done. Now it’s on to face Spain in the final on Sunday with a chance at becoming the first repeat champion since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
In the 85th minute, with England hanging on for dear life, Messi pushed out a short corner, immediately got the return pass and spotted Enzo Fernandez lurking in the middle of the field, 25 yards from the goal. Fernandez ripped a curling shot past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to even the score.
At that point, it seemed inevitable that Argentina would pull out the victory.
With AP Inputs
