Today is January 3, 2046. In the blink of an eye, 20 years have passed since the wonderful year 2026.
The reason why I say it is beautiful is because in the 2026 World Cup, the 39-year-old football king Messi led the Argentina team to win the World Cup. It was the first time that a team defended the Hercules Cup. It was called a miracle. The process of winning the championship was ups and downs, passionate and full of legendary scenes. As a Messi fan, it was a wonderful and extremely happy moment.
Now let us turn the time back to 2026 and once again experience the rush of happiness in our memories.
The 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup has several "firsts" that make this World Cup even more legendary: it is the first time it is held in three countries; it is the first time that nine world champions who have won Golden Globe Awards participate; and it is the first time that a Chinese team with naturalized players participates.
The World Cup finals expanded to 48 teams, with a total of 16 groups, with 3 teams in each group. The defending champion Argentina team is well grouped. Group E is Croatia and Japan . Although Argentina is the defending champion, most people do not regard them as favorites to win the championship because the core Messi is too old. At that time, the recognized favorites to win the championship were France, England, Italy, Germany, and Brazil.
Argentina started in a low-key manner, and the group stage went smoothly. In the first round, they defeated Croatia, the strongest opponent in the group, 3:0, ushering in a good start.
Croatia controlled the midfield in that game, but Argentina counterattacked very sharply. In the 32nd minute of the first half, Alvarez was knocked down by the goalkeeper and won a penalty kick. Messi scored overnight, and Argentina led 1:0.
In the 38th minute of the first half, Argentina stole the ball in the backcourt and counterattacked. Messi stole the ball from the 41-year-old Modric . Alvarez got the ball and rushed all the way to the Croatian penalty area. After stumbling past two people, he scored the ball. Argentina led 2:0.
In the second half, Messi dribbled the ball from the right and broke through. He twice played with the Croatian central defender Gvadiol and then sent an assist. Alvarez scored twice, 3:0, and Argentina secured the victory.
In the end, Argentina defeated Croatia 3:0, and the qualifying situation was excellent.
In the second game, Argentina faced the Asian powerhouse and the Japanese team . What was unexpected was that Argentina beat their opponent 7:0, creating the largest point difference in that World Cup.
Messi once again performed well, sending 2 goals and two assists. His personal number of World Cup goals has reached 16, tying Klose .
Argentina qualified with Croatia as the first in the group. In the 1/16 finals, Argentina met the Polish team led by Lewandowski.
The Polish team is tall and rough on the feet. The midfielder basically cannot hold the ball. Argentina crushes its opponents on the scene. Finally, relying on goals from McAllister and Alvarez in the second half, Argentina eliminated its opponent 2:0 and advanced to the top 16.
Argentina’s opponent in the top 16 is the Chinese team.
You heard it right, the Chinese team qualified for the 2022 World Cup and qualified in the group.
The Chinese team scored 3 points with one win and one loss in the group stage, and finally advanced as the second place in the group. The performance of the Chinese team in that World Cup was remarkable. Although they lost to the French team 0:3 in the first game, the Chinese team broke out in the second game and defeated the United States, one of the hosts, 2:1. Exxon equalized the score, Wu Lei scored the winning goal,
After the game, the enthusiasm of Chinese fans was completely ignited. Major cities sang and danced to celebrate the victory. The fans celebrated like a festival that the Chinese team became the only team in Asia to qualify from the group stage. In the 1/16 finals after
, the Chinese team made persistent efforts and drew 0:0 with Norway, led by Haaland , in 120 minutes. In the final penalty shootout, the national football team defeated their opponent 4:2 and met Argentina on a narrow road.
Argentina encountered such a strange new team in the second round of the knockout round. They were both excited and nervous. The excitement was that the opponent was not strong, and the nervousness was that the distant Dongfeng Dragon was too unfamiliar. After all, this was a single knockout match, and chance was also one of the factors that determined the outcome.
But for football matches, strength is always decisive. After the Chinese team struggled for 70 minutes, Argentina broke the deadlock. Di Maria received a long pass from DePaul and shot into the net 1:0. Then Argentina created several more dangers, especially in the 87th minute. Messi slipped when facing an empty goal and missed the chance to win. The score was maintained at 1:0 until the end.
That game became the matchup that Messi least wanted to remember in the 2026 World Cup. Argentina narrowly escaped death and advanced to the top 8. Although the Chinese team lost, it was an honor.
Argentina’s quarter-final opponent is Mexico, one of the hosts. After Mexico's dismal experience of being eliminated from the group four years ago, they learned from the experience and finally built a highly effective team. They made history by making it all the way to the top 8.
In that game, Mexico's midfield stranglehold and emphasis on physical confrontation caused great difficulties for Argentina. Argentina's offense struggled, and Mexico's counterattack became even sharper. Until the 62nd minute of the second half, Messi received a pass from Di Maria in the middle and suddenly hit the ground with his foot. The ball would go around the goalkeeper's fingertips and enter the goal. Argentina's situation suddenly became clear.
In the 87th minute, 25-year-old Chelsea general Enzo received a pass from Messi and entered the penalty area. Under the blockage of defensive players, he made a shocking kick. The ball went into the net again, 2:0, and Argentina secured the victory.
In the end, Argentina eliminated the host Mexico team 2:0 and advanced to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, Argentina's opponent was the French team. The champions and runners-up of the last World Cup met in the semi-finals. This century showdown attracted billions of fans around the world to watch. Enemies meeting each other are extremely jealous. The battle between Mars and the earth is about to break out.
The game was filled with scenes of people falling over each other from the beginning, and violent fouls and flying tackles were common. France changed from the slow start four years ago. After the opening, they relied on the speed of black offensive players to launch a flood of attacks on the Argentine goal. The defending champion's city was in turmoil and was in danger.
At the end of the first half, Messi made a mistake with the ball in the midfield. After France got the ball, he passed the ball to Mbappé. The Turtle's speed did not slow down. After getting rid of the defensive player in the penalty area, he kicked the ball and the ball went into the goal. France led Argentina 1:0.
In the second half, Argentina replaced Lautaro and Di Maria to strengthen the attack, Pampas Eagles and the situation began to improve. In the 79th minute, Di Maria spiked the ball from the left and passed Dembele into the penalty area. The latter tripped Di Maria to the ground with his hands and feet in a hurry. The referee awarded a penalty kick. Messi scored in one stroke, and Argentina equalized the score 1:1.
After that, both sides had their own offensive, but neither of them was able to grasp it, and the game entered overtime.
In the 103rd minute of the first half of overtime, Argentina cooperated from the right. Lautaro broke into the penalty area and fired a shot that was blocked by Lori with his face. Messi followed up and scored with a supplementary shot. 2:1, Argentina took the lead.
After that, although France launched a wave of attacks, the final kick was always inferior. At the end of 120 minutes, Argentina defeated France 2:1 and advanced to the World Cup final for the second consecutive time. The French team, which is determined to win the championship, has great ambitions and can only compete for third place. The
final was between two South American teams. Argentina and Brazil, the two South American heroes, meet in the World Cup finals. This is the first time in the history of football.
is once again close to the Hercules Cup. Four years have passed, as if it was yesterday. In that World Cup, the Champions League's mentality was exceptionally peaceful. The entire Argentina team was united and had no pressure, thus bursting out with super fighting power, which allowed them to reach the finals of two consecutive World Cups.
The Argentine team comes from the magical continent of South America. They are passionate and unrestrained in their bones and advocate freedom. Only this kind of soil can give birth to football magicians like Messi. Only this kind of atmosphere can create the free and easy, eclectic and imaginative football landscape of South American football.
The Brazilian team, known as the Kingdom of Football, Samba dancers, has the iron blood, rigor and super discipline of European football, as well as the perfect combination of South American football technology and art. They have not reached the finals in 24 years, and every pore of the Brazilian players is filled with the desire for the Hercules Cup and the longing for the championship.
The final was held at the magnificent Azteca Stadium in Mexico. The referee whistled and the game officially kicked off. The game was tense and exciting. The players on both sides were a little cautious and made many mistakes in passing. The deafening cheers of the 80,000 fans on the sidelines pushed the momentum of the final to a climax.
It was in this ultimate atmosphere that a crack appeared in the Brazilian team's airtight and tight defense. Messi saw this crack. For Messi and all Messi fans, that is where the sun shines in.
In the 18th minute of the first half, DePaul made a long pass from the backcourt and directly found Messi. Messi stopped the ball and formed a single goal. Facing the goalkeeper who rushed towards him, Messi fired an angry shot and the ball went in, 1:0.
was the only goal in the whole game, the goal that decided the winner of the Hercules Cup, the goal that made plum fans all over the world ecstatic, the goal that changed fate. After
, the two sides made no further achievements. The score of 1:0 was maintained until the end. Argentina defeated Brazil and won the 2026 World Cup championship, achieving the defense of the Hercules Cup. This is the fourth World Cup title in Argentina's history.
The 39-year-old Messi scored 7 goals and contributed 4 assists. He was awarded the World Cup top scorer, assist leader and MVP. With 20 goals in 6 World Cups, Messi broke Klose's 12-year World Cup scoring record.
Although 20 years have passed since that exciting moment. Nowadays, Messi, the 10-time Ballon d'Or winner, is 60 years old, but the various abnormal records he maintains are like the unattainable Mount Everest and are beyond the reach of countless descendants. As his fan, I feel deeply honored to be able to witness with my own eyes the entire process of the birth, rise and domination of a generation of kings.
As a sixty-year-old, when I think of the dream-like World Cups in 2022 and 2026, my heart still fluctuates, and my cloudy old eyes still can’t help but burst into tears.
After all, that is our youth...
