00:00What are Lionel Messi's three best Argentina performances?
00:03His final game for the national team against Benin marks the end of the finest international
00:07career of all time. An iconic story arc culminating in every trophy and legendary performances all
00:14over the world. We've ranked the top three. It was impossible. Let's go.
00:18Number three, Messi versus England, 2026. Now, I have consulted my Argentinian friend on this.
00:23I wanted Messi versus Brazil in 2012, where he scored a hat-trick to win 4-3,
00:28albeit in an exhibition. I still think that England let him run and win the game for his
00:32country, but he insists this belonged on the list and it's hard to argue. He dragged Argentina from
00:37the jaws of defeat, not for the first time at that World Cup, against another bitter rival and
00:42delivered two assists to put his country in back-to-back World Cup finals. Number two,
00:46Messi versus Ecuador, 2017. Remember all the Azteca chat in the summer, the altitude,
00:52the impossible conditions? Well, Argentina went to Quito, which is 2,000 feet higher above sea level
00:57than the Azteca and had to win. Otherwise, they wouldn't qualify for the World Cup and went one
01:03nil down. Up steps Messi, who scores a hat-trick, including a brilliant top corner finish to save
01:08Argentina from humiliation. But number one, obviously, Messi versus France, 2022. It is mental
01:14that arguably he wasn't even the best player on the pitch that day, but scoring twice in a World Cup
01:19final and scoring in the shootout and winning the World Cup, it just has to be number one,
01:23doesn't it? Let us know if we've got any wrong in the comments.
