As ever with a World Cup finals, the fevered immediate aftermath is rarely the time for objectivity. The most divisive competition in tournament history was, predictably, being rebranded as the best of all time in the minutes and hours after Lionel Messi hoisted the famous trophy above his head. The match that his Argentina side had just prevailed in was similarly 'the greatest of all time'. Make no mistake, it was a stoater but for a good 70 minutes one team barely laid a glove on the other before we were treated to an insane, air-hockey style finish that brought the kind of palpable tension that the television viewer rarely experiences in their own home, thousands of miles from where the live action has taken place.

It was a similarly dramatic denouement that accompanied Argentina's late capitulation against the Netherlands in the side's last 16 encounter. Capitulation might seem harsh given that they prevailed but it is the only word to describe what happened. For as good as Argentina were in the first three-quarters of both matches, it was the negative substitutions and defensive tactics by Lionel Scaloni, their head coach, which resulted in handing the initiative to opponents who should have been dead and buried at that stage. But then this is how Argentina win World Cups: with an instrument of penance in one hand and a prayer book in the other. With the stands of The Monumental willing them over the line against Netherlands in 1978, Dirk Nanninga equalised with eight minutes remaining to force extra time and Rob Rensenbrink almost won the game with seconds left but, after beating Ubaldo Fillol with his shot, the ball bounced off a post and the match went to the extended period. A frantic finish was settled when Mario Kempes and Daniel Bertoni struck in each half of extra time to secure victory.

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It was a similar story eight years later. Rewatch footage of the 1986 World Cup and the similarities to that final and yesterday's were again evident: Argentina raced into a two-goal lead with the best player in the world pulling the strings. The second goal had been scored following a flowing Argentina move which was capped by Jorge Valdano, an attacker who enjoyed success with Real Madrid, slotting past Harald Schumacher. Then West Germany staged a late fightback, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Rudi Voeller, two of the best strikers in Europe, with the goals, the second of which came with 81 minutes on the clock – the exact time of Kylian Mbappe's equaliser in Lusail Stadium. But there was to be no extra time as Diego Maradona split the German defence and Jorge Luis Burruchaga scored a late winner. In terms of drama, both finals had plenty of it – and there was no shortage of players operating at the top of their game. For large spells of yesterday's encounter, France were utterly awful, dispatching pressure-free passes into touch, generally looking anaemic and disinterested (no doubt as a result of the sickness bug that ravaged the squad and manager Didier Deschamps in part blamed for his side's performance for 70-odd minutes) and playing out a match in which they seemed to have been drained not just of their vitality but of all belief, too.

Then Argentina hit their own bump in the road. Sitting off and reverting to a conservatism that has so often been their undoing, their defending turned to mush, Nicolas Otamendi produced his usual clanger and the momentum was snatched away from them by Mbappe and some inspired French substitutes, most notably Randal Kolo Muani. 

But then perhaps every 'great' game requires those moments: the flawed and the damaged are necessary ingredients, ones that we may compare with our own frailties in order that we might set them against the brilliance that is also present and of which only the few are capable.

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Certainly every game requires a Messi. This was not the one-man show he conjured in the semi-final against Croatia but, nevertheless, he was still the centrepiece of an Argentina side that should have sealed the game long before extra time and penalties were required. He made 32 passes in the final third, more than any other player, and scored twice. His touch and flick to Julian Alvarez to set up Alexis Mac Allister for Argentina's second goal was the kind of understated nonchalance that - so commonplace have they become - are now almost imperceptible acts of genius.

In the rush for everyone to proclaim a king, to have a hot-take, subjectivity prospers (and, yes, The Fixture understands the irony of making similar judgments in this newsletter) but in the final analysis there must always be context of time and place. Messi has copper-fastened his status as one of the greats but The Fixture resists the temptation to anoint one man as the best of all time. Just as there are many great matches, infinite great goals and memorable tournaments, the same is true of the players. There are no immutable truths in football. 

The Herald:

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