For Leo's last one

Por Malvinas, por el Diego, por la ultima de Leo - is another fan song that comes from Argentina, a country where they are sung emotionally like nowhere else in the world.

Freely translated, these verses mean: For the Falkland Islands, for Diego (Maradona) and for Leo's last World Cup.

For more than 20 years, the "wizard from Rosario" Lionel Messi has made football an even more beautiful game, standing shoulder to shoulder with the greatest Diego Maradona and Pele, and after finally bringing his homeland its third world title, he can now peacefully enjoy his last dance at the World Cup.

Even though he is on the verge of turning 39, even though he retired to the silence of Miami after the golden Qatar, he was always there for Argentina - he continued to play like in his best days, to score goals and to make his countrymen believe that Leo's mastery would bring the "gauchos" a fourth star.

And, even if it doesn't work out, it's less important now - the days ahead should be about enjoying the final moves of a maestro who is born once every 50 years or so.

His first goal in a sky-blue jersey against Croatia in 2006, his first World Cup the same year, his unreal moves at the Copa America a year later, Olympic gold in 2008 and the moment when he took over Argentina's No. 10 from another great, Juan Roman Riquelme, now seem far away.

While he made history with Barcelona, ​​Leo has since gone through many difficult moments in Argentina's beloved jersey. Failure at the 2010 World Cup, a painful defeat in the final four years later in Brazil, a collapse in Russia 2018... He lost after the final in Rio de Janeiro and two matches for the gold medal in the Copa America and was always the main culprit for the failures.

Everything changed when he least expected it, when his namesake Scaloni arrived on the Argentina bench, and his great friend and another maestro Angel di Maria defeated Brazil and Messi at the "Marakana" in 2021 and brought his country the long-awaited trophy - the Copa America.

It was a sign that Argentina had woken up, everyone was playing for Messi, and he was playing for everyone in his country and the world crown had to come. He finally embraced the golden goddess, his obsession, in Qatar after the epic final with France.

Messi would have been one of the greatest, for many the greatest, even without a world title, but the "magician" knew that without a crown with his people, his career would never be complete.

Now, for the first time, he is arriving at the World Cup without tension and pressure - to enjoy it, and with him the entire football world.

THE LAST DANCE FOR RONALDO, MODRIC, NEYMAR, DE BRUYNE, NEUER...

He may not have won the World Cup (yet), but another great player, one of the greatest in history, deserves a big bow - Leo's eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

This will be his last World Cup, and in the previous five he was always the top scorer - the only one ever to achieve such a feat. Now he will try to fulfill the dream that Messi had three and a half years ago. And it seems that he has great teammates in Portugal for such a thing.

For the last time at the World Cup, the world will also admire the boy from Velebit who has become one of the best of all time, and definitely the best from this region. Luka Modrić has led Croatia to unreal heights over the past eight years (World Cup final 2018, third place 2022), and now he dreams of another unforgettable tournament as a highlight of his immense career.

He was greeted with applause from Podgorica at the World Cup, and no matter how he returns from the American continent, he deserves the same everywhere in the world.

Several other great players will play in their last World Cup - Neymar, Kevin de Bruyne, Manuel Neuer, James Rodriguez, Virgil van Dijk, and maybe even Mohamed Salah.