Argentina's football team have reached Sunday's World Cup final against Spain after an impressive 2-1 semi-final win over England, in a match hailed as fresh proof that the country has fully embraced Lionel Messi as its footballing icon. The victory marks a symbolic shift for Argentina, whose footballing identity was for decades defined almost exclusively by Diego Maradona, and suggests that Messi, by asserting his own legacy, is helping to shape a new national footballing identity rather than living permanently in Maradona's shadow.

For years many Argentinians measured Messi against Maradona and found him wanting, doubting he could match Maradona's impact even as the rest of the world admired him. Commentator Tomás Abraham, a 79-year-old writer and philosopher who organises his life around football, argues the England defeat "hurts more than the Hand of God" because it came from a genuinely superior side. The article contrasts Maradona's brash, outspoken embodiment of a self-assured Argentina with Messi's quieter demeanour, framing Messi's growing acceptance as a sign the country's relationship with football, and itself, is changing.