The easiest thing to say after Argentina somehow created a miracle vs Egypt was that World Cup referees had cheated.That’s how legendary Lionel Messi has become — and he’s shining brighter than ever in the United States of America in 2026.Lionel Messi can’t be stopped — and some are convinced that referees are helpingGettyIn a polarized world where it’s sometimes hard to agree on anything, basically everyone agrees about Messi.If you listen to ‘The Rest Is Football’ on the Tube on the way to work, England legends Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer regularly praise Messi in supreme GOAT terms. “Lionel Messi, man, he’s just incredible,” Micah Richards said Wednesday on the Netflix show. “It’s unbelievable how he keeps doing it and doing it and doing it.”“It’s crazy when you think about it,” Lineker added. If you watched US President Donald Trump confirm that he inserted himself in the middle of one of the most controversial decisions in almost 100 years of World Cup history, an 80-year-old who normally deals with Democrats and Iran couldn’t help but name drop Messi.“You want to see a game with your best players. How would you feel if I took Messi out?” said Trump, while discussing the overturn of Folarin Balogun‘s red-card suspension. So, of course, a gutted Egypt team railed against FIFA’s ‘pro-Argentina bias’ after Messi and Co. emerged from a World Cup Round of 16 match with three stunning goals in the final 26 minutes.“There have been a lot of things to be questioned, on and off the pitch,” said Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan, after Argentina’s instant-classic 3-2 win in Atlanta knocked another non-Messi country out of the World Cup. “Negative aspects all around. It’s just about credibility — lack of credibility with how things unfolded.“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.“The world champion received support at every level. There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome.”Messi is so good at 39 that Argentina could repeat as World Cup championsgettyTears of pride and joy from the World Cup’s all-time leading goal scorerGettyTwo years ago, NFL fans around the world became increasingly convinced that the richest sports league on the planet was secretly pushing for the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl again.Why?Because Patrick Mahomes was the face of the league, Travis Kelce was dating international pop music superstar Taylor Swift, and the NFL would make even more money via increased TV ratings and merchandise sales if the Chiefs added another shining trophy to their dynasty case.“I’m not that good a scripter,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “The idea that this is within a script, this is pre-planned, is just nonsense. It’s frankly not even worth talking about.”But the 39-year-old Messi is so smooth, so creative, so sublime and so … cute when he wins, that his World Cup image sometimes approaches Mickey Mouse vibes.You’d have to possess a heart of darkness to root against Paddington, Winnie-the-Pooh or Baby Yoda.But after Messi did it again vs. Egypt, the social media hate flowed. “Corruption rife on the pitch and in the VAR,” one fan posted. “But it’s only Egypt. They’re not important. It was more important that Argentina were allowed to win. Shameful and disgraceful officiating. But what do you expect from FIFA? The most corrupt body in sport.”Egypt was furious after a 3-2 lossGettyRonaldo has played his final World Cup game but Messi keeps making historyWhen Messi tied Egypt at 2-2 with a beautiful goal that bounced off the goalkeeper and crossbar, then somehow danced into the net, the seething opposition became even more convinced that it was Egypt vs The World (and Messi).“The referee was really unfair,” Egypt forward Mostafa Zico said. “The injustice was clear. There’s been an unfairness right from the start of the match.” Messi has scored in a staggering nine consecutive World Cup matches, and is the tournament’s all-time leading scorer (21) while almost doubling Pele in that category.Cristiano Ronaldo struggled to run in the 2026 World Cup and was an even poorer finisher in front of goal, while Portugal was knocked out of the Round of 16 by arch rival Spain.Messi currently leads the Golden Boot standings with eight goals, topping modern football superstars Kylian Mbappe (France), Erling Haaland (Norway) and Harry Kane (England). Messi also alternates between standing and watching or lightly trotting for most of Argentina’s matches, before flipping the world’s most efficient internal combustion engine switch to create another most-watched YouTube highlight.Coming to AmericaHow the 1994 World Cup changed soccer in USA – from tourists in Italy to better than England and MLSRanking the World Cup venues – from New York to Los Angeles, a string of spectacular venues will play host to the 2026 World CupThe $9bn pitch built for Ronaldo’s last World Cup – ‘Forever’ grass, artificial sunlight and closed roof“No matter the pressure or the stage, Messi continues to deliver,” one fan tweeted. “Even after a difficult start to the match, he found the net again when Argentina needed him most.”Switzerland must face FIFA’s theoretical Messi bias in the quarterfinals.If Argentina wins again and England downs Norway, Kane’s country could see Messi standing in the way of a World Cup finals berth 60 years in the making.In a World Cup partly defined by thousand-dollar tickets inside packed NFL stadiums across America, it’s easier than ever to believe that FIFA wants to keep Messi starring in the biggest sports tournament in history.Even if he’s really just so great that no one can stop him from winning games. 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