Ням гарагт болох Дэлхийн аваргын шигшээ тоглолтод хөлбөмбөгийн домог Лионель Месси болон ирээдүйн од Ламин Ямал нар нүүр тулж, үе үеийн шилдэг тоглогчдын өрсөлдөөнийг харуулах гэж байна.
Лионель Месси талбай дээрх хөдөлгөөнөөс илүүтэй тоглолтын явцыг оюун санаандаа тооцоолж, хамгийн тохиромжтой орон зайг олохдоо гаргууд хэвээр байна. Тэрээр Английн эсрэг тоглолтын төгсгөлд тоглолтыг удирдаж, хоёр оновчтой дамжуулалт өгсөн нь түүний талбайг харах өнцөг болон тоглолтын хэмнэлийг хэрхэн захирдаг болохыг нотлов. Месси нь хамгаалагчийн үйлдлийг хүлээж байгаад хариу үйлдэл үзүүлдэг онцгой чадвартай бөгөөд энэ нь түүнийг түүхэн дэх хамгийн аюултай дриблёр болгодог.
Харин Ламин Ямалын хувьд түүний байрлал эзлэлт нь Испанийн довтолгоог илүү стратегилаг болгож, хамгаалагчдыг өөртөө татан бусад тоглогчдод зай гаргаж өгдөг. Нэг эсрэг нэг нөхцөлд зогсоохын аргагүй түүний дриблинг болон “тривела” дамжуулалтууд нь тоглолтын хувь заяаг шийдэх хүчин зүйл болж байна. Ямал нь тоглолтын өмнө маш тайван байдлаа хадгалдаг бөгөөд энэ нь түүний өөртөө итгэлтэй, шийдэмгий тоглолтоос тод харагддаг.
Аргентины дасгалжуулагч Лионель Скалони Ямалыг хязгаарлахыг хичээх нь тодорхой ч, тэрээр эсрэг талын хамгаалалтыг задалж багийн анд нөхдөө боломжоор хангах чадвартай. Месси болон Ямал нар хоёул өөрсдийн тоглодог бүсэд бөмбөг хүлээн авахдаа алдаа гаргадаггүй бөгөөд энэ нь тэднийг бусад тоглогчдоос ялгарах гол үзүүлэлт юм. Энэхүү шигшээ тоглолт нь хөлбөмбөгийн ертөнцийн өнгөрсөн болон ирээдүйг холбосон онцгой үйл явдал болох нь дамжиггүй.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
The World Cup final on Sunday promises to be an incredible match as past and present generations go head to head.
It feels to me like Lionel Messi is passing the torch to Lamine Yamal, who I believe could become the new king of world football in the next 15-20 years.
We can talk about tactics and fitness, but ultimately what makes the difference is talent. Even on a day like this, it’s all about ability, and they’re the two most talented players in the world right now.
Ahead of Spain vs Argentina, here’s my guide on what to look out for when you watch Messi and Yamal.
The World Cup Final goes through La Masia. pic.twitter.com/FrlKixkFwv
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 18, 2026
Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app
How Messi looks for space
Messi always has his eyes peeled, trying to find that pocket of space where he has the second he needs to make a difference. If you watch him on the TV or in the stadium, you’ll see him walking, but he is not walking. He is thinking, calculating. All the time he’s looking around, seeing where the ball might fall, if a team-mate might look to play a pass into space.
His Argentina team-mates run themselves into the ground for him. They know that he can make the difference. They don’t mind, that’s OK.
When I played with him at Barcelona he had a little more energy. He was tearing about the pitch, hassling, harrying, picking up the ball in deeper spaces and playing with us. Now he’s a little less active physically — that is understandable, aged 39. But mentally, he is just as relentless as ever, and the speed of thought is incomparable to any other footballer in the world.
He has much more information stored in his head than anyone else. It is constant. “Am I marked? Can I get free? Where is Julian Alvarez? Where is Giuliano Simeone? Where is Leandro Paredes? If the ball drops here, what can I do to be one step ahead?”
He is always looking before receiving the ball — always, always, always.
And then, when he does get on the ball in time and space… he is the best player in the history of the game.
In the last 25 minutes against England, he was the chief playmaker, causing all of the damage. Even aside from the two assists, he was lining up the crosses, initiating those give and goes, drifting over here, darting back into space, stopping there, asking for the ball, feinting left and right.
That is Messi, constantly looking for how to be dangerous. He makes things happen everywhere, even though he’s practically Argentina’s last man in attack. It’s marvellous to watch him play. We are so lucky.
Lionel Messi is always in space and always thinking one step ahead (Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)
How Yamal’s positioning helps his team
Lamine’s positioning is a little more strategic. He’s hanging out on the wing, or drifting into the middle a little bit, but either works because he is a difference-maker on the ball.
When he is one-vs-one he is practically unstoppable. The opposition’s biggest worry when they play against Lamine is to not let him get into a one-vs-one situation. If you are a defender you need support against him, and Lamine knows that.
That will be Lionel Scaloni’s obsession. He won’t want to let him breathe. He is a threat, the biggest worry for the opposition. Argentina will be all over him, constantly pressuring him. But Lamine is clever. He will think: “One minute, if I have three players marking me, then there will be space on the opposite flank, or there will be a free man somewhere.”
When he attracts those defenders over, it opens up space for the likes of Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Dani Olmo. Yamal is always ready to make a decision to pass.
Lamine is constantly asking for the ball. When Spain have it, for example with Marc Cucurella on the opposite side, he stands with his hand in the air all the time. He wants it quickly. He is thinking: “Now, now I’ve got a one-vs-one if you play it to me quickly.” And Yamal can kill the game all by himself in that situation.
But he knows he can help the team even if three defenders are on him. He could still even dribble past them, but just attracting the defenders towards him is great for his team-mates.
Lamine Yamal will draw defenders knowing it will free up a team-mate (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Messi’s favourite zone
I like this visualisation as it shows us where both players do their best work. For Messi, that’s his natural habitat: in the inside channel on the right. He started his career playing wider, but bit by bit he has moved over here.
Whenever Leo gets the ball in this zone, something happens. Why? Because he’s got talent, pure talent.
Messi and Lamine hardly ever lose the ball in those spaces. Sometimes it happens because they’re in the most difficult area — there are 200 defenders in there. But if Lamine gets the ball there, something happens. Messi too. They are difference-makers.
If I’m the opposing team and Messi has it here, I’d be scared. Against England he was playing as a No 9, but in the last 20 minutes, he drifted more into those spaces and it’s ‘pam’, ‘pam’, ‘pam’, ‘pam’ and into the area four, five or six times. Messi is in a different galaxy.
Lamine could be in a different galaxy, too. Sometimes he is. But he’s still only 19. In footballing terms, he will be the closest thing there is to Messi.
How do both players dribble?
Messi and Diego Maradona are the only players in history who wait for the defender to make a move before they dribble. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Lamine is slightly different. He has a move in his head, and he takes you on. He will make his move before the defender. Sometimes the defender can guess and win the ball. But Messi is on another level, and I don’t think people quite understand that.
Imagine Messi now, running at you. He won’t do anything; he will wait for you to commit. The second you put your right foot out he will duck away and he is so quick that he’s gone in an instant. I trained with him for 15 years, and there is no football player in the world who dribbles like that, taking you on only after you have made your move.
This is a great example — look how he waits for Elliot Anderson to stick out his left leg. The speed is just brutal, the little shimmy as well. He says: “OK, what are you going to do, Anderson?” If he was to stick out his right leg instead, Messi would have faked to go left and then ducked his way around the outside.
This is what people still don’t quite understand. No other footballer in the world can do this. I’ve only seen Maradona. I didn’t watch Pele — my father told me about him but I haven’t seen it myself. But with my own eyes, only Maradona and now Messi have been capable of this.
Vinicius Junior is a brilliant dribbler. Kylian Mbappe is a great dribbler. But they think ahead and say, “Let’s see what move I’m going to make. I’m going to go this way, I’ll get past the defender with speed, I’ll do this skill, I’ll use my forward momentum and power.” Messi waits to see what you do and then reacts.
Lamine sometimes does it too, but he hasn’t reached that level quite yet.
How does Messi use his body to dribble?
He plays with every part of his body, that is his greatest skill. He is looking for what the defender is thinking — you go that way, I’ll go the other. That is Messi, man. The question is not how can you stop him; it’s how can you possibly guess what he is about to do?
What if you just foul him? Well, then he just curls the free kick into the top corner. Maybe three or four players can stop him if they work together.
I don’t think there will ever be another football player like him. He is the best in history as only he can do these things. Messi could play with his bad leg and he would still be the best player on the pitch.
Analysing Lamine in full flow
Lamine has an amazing skill to use the outside of his boot to play passes. He understands what the play needs, and will only use it when required, but it also helps to make him so much more unpredictable because he can easily go left, right, or straight through you with that pass.
Lamine is clever, and that ‘trivela’ pass is pretty unstoppable when he gets it right, like he so often does. That is just pure talent and years of practice. It isn’t normal that attackers also have the talent to pass the ball like that — it is not normal. But he has it.
He has a special touch around the penalty area. Here is another great clip.
The first touch is magnificent, it sets him up instantly to start tormenting the defender.
Lamine is really good at doing things without giving away his intentions. His body doesn’t give you any clues. He doesn’t need much space to shift his feet, or much time. He’ll find the pass and he’ll do it smoothly. That makes him really hard to read because it’s all part of the rhythm, and he can release the ball or cut inside at any point when he has the ball at his feet.
Football is all about engaño (trickery) — looking one way and passing the other, feinting to go left and swiftly moving right, manipulating the opposition and tricking them to open up those little spaces. Lamine is a pure trickster, a magician. It is difficult to predict what he is going to do next because he conceals everything with his body.
The weight of the pass here is perfect; it’s practically a goal. But look at his body shape at the moment of release. He could realistically chop onto his right foot, cut inside or play the pass. As a defender, at full speed, you are often left guessing until the last moment.
c
What they’re like on game day
Messi is very calm, quiet, a little introverted, thinking about what he has to do.
Lamine has a bit more of a flow. He will listen to his music, joke around, try to lift the spirits of his team-mates and keep morale high. But he is also incredibly relaxed. He fell asleep on the bus on the way to the European Championship final. That is just what he is like. He knows that he has the talent and he knows what he has to do, so he doesn’t worry, and faces up to the challenge on the pitch.
When you have that level of talent, you don’t need to worry because you know you have everything to solve it. I imagine he’ll be much the same ahead of the final today.
Leaders on the pitch
Messi takes on so much responsibility, he is the talisman for Argentina and Yamal does not shy away from anything either.
If Yamal is to reach Messi’s level, and he still has so much time to do that, he just needs more of everything — more dribbles, passes, goals.
If anyone can get there it is Lamine. He is the closest to Messi we will get. I can’t wait to see them both face off on the biggest stage. It is a special final and maybe a day we will look back on in years to come.
