Lionel Messi

Thomas Tuchel’s all-time bottle job hands Argentina World Cup final place

Substitutions backfire for England, as Lionel Messi helps inspire Argentina’s comeback to make final

Argentina v England: The greatest and most romantic of the footballing rivalries?

Look beyond the flashpoints and flare-ups, and there is something more profound at work here

‘Heir to Messi and Maradona’: Spain’s Lamine Yamal ready to break French hearts again

Winger’s talent has potential to advance perceived limits of football itself, it seems

Alvarez sends Argentina past Switzerland after VAR controversy to set up England semi-final

World champions require extra time after Embolo dismissal proves decisive as Switzerland rue contentious refereeing call

There’s a nagging sense the Egyptian coach’s burning words may have followed Argentina to Kansas

Argentina supporters have turned Kansas City into a sea of sky blue and white, but Egypt's accusations after their last-16 defeat cast a shadow

Kansas City’s unlikely World Cup dream started long ago, on a rainy night in Milltown

Lamar Hunt was inspired by the experience of watching Shamrock Rovers from the terraces in 1962

Gavin Cooney: Gianni Infantino playing the fame game creates conflict of interest for Fifa

Organisation’s ideal of absolute neutrality in danger as Fifa faithfully follows America’s scripture of celebrity

Messi and Djokovic show age is no impediment to sporting greatness

Masters roll back the years in epic victories

‘They want Messi to stay in the tournament’: Egypt’s disallowed goal against Argentina leads to claims of injustice

Mostafa Zico had a goal ruled out in Tuesday’s Round of 16 game due to a foul in the lead up

Lionel Messi ignites Argentina’s stunning comeback to beat Egypt

When you have Messi, it’s never really over as flawed Argentina are a dark and brilliant alliance of plot armour, destiny and genius

‘I never thought I’d share the same pitch, and give him a shove’: Pico’s Messi ‘dream’

Family, friends and fans at Dublin Airport for the homecoming of Shamrock Rovers star Lopes

Ken Early: The World Cup is an epic battle between prudent precision and superhuman instinct

Both styles of management and play can get results, but only one is unashamedly, joyously human

‘Now the flag is everywhere’: how World Cup success has changed life in Cape Verde

The Blue Sharks will become the smallest-ever nation to play a World Cup knockout match when they face Argentina on Friday

They say men have trouble expressing their feelings. Yet we all speak fluent Messi

Continents may divide us, but his greatness is an enduring sporting bond, bridging oceans, obliterating time zones

Who is playing in the World Cup knock-out stages and when?

Cape Verde’s Pico Lopes will have the chance for one of the greatest giant-killings of all time when his side play Lionel Messi’s Argentina

World Cup 2026: Messi notches again as group stage ends in dramatic fashion

Algeria and Austria play out an entertaining and convenient draw, after Portugal and England fail to convince

Ken Early: My friend is right, TV replays from the World Cup are different this time

Goals are almost secondary to emotion, celebrity and spectacle

Séamas O’Reilly: I tell my son the truth about football

I was a wiry, bookish nerd who grew up in open countryside with little else to do than play football

Stranger things have happened than the prospect of Messi vs Pico Lopes – but not many

For many League of Ireland fans, this is our Italia 90 moment - our summer party, our time in the sun

‘I relax when I see a player go flat out’: Fifa signs Dundalk grass expert for World Cup

Greg Whately has used his horticultural expertise to make sure pitch in Boston is optimal for football

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