Even with his magical performance through which he pulled Argentina at of the deeps in virtually all their encounters, Lionel Messi, appeared inconsolable with his inability to create the most enduring piece of history he apparently desired – winning the World Cup – back-to-back.

For this, he went to the podium soaked in his own tears to receive his medal as the defending champions fell to Spain in the just ended football tournament, which ended this Sunday, at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, the United States.

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Failing to reach the first back-to-back men’s World Cup winner since Brazil in 1962, no thanks to Ferran Torres, who scored 37 seconds into the second extra-time period, to seal the spectacular performance of the La Furia Roja (The Red Fury) with a 1-0 victory and handed them their second World Cup title, the Argentine prodigy, was all full of praises for the champions.

Fighting back tears, the 39-year-old Argentine captain said of the La Furia Roja who posted a 20-1 advantage in shots, and 845-433, showing total dominance: “I feel sad, but I am aware that we played our hearts out.

“They were better, to be honest. We lost the game, and we accept that. That doesn’t mean that we will forget everything we’ve done so far, so I’d like to thank my people, my players and the country.”

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Even with a year short of 40, by which time virtually all footballers would have retired from the game, Messi’s performance in the three-nation, 2026 World Cup, leaves many believing that he could even show up at the next edition in 2030 to be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. opening matches holding in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, mark the centenary of the tournament.

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“Moroccan players in Morocco believe in themselves, the supporters, the fans believe in us as well. It’s so important. They’re demanding, but it’s because they know just how far we can go.”

These were the words of Mohamed Ouabhi, the head coach of the Atlas Lions of Morocco, with which he explained the stunning defeat served the Het Nederlands Elftal (The Dutch Eleven), senior national football team of The Netherlands on Monday night at the ongoing 2026 World Cup.

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Ouabhi, who described his team as “unstoppable,” said the feat came from a place of mental strength and strong build-up of physical and psychological power acquired in the last edition of the tournament in Qatar, adding that the best of the nation was yet to come.

Morocco, which prevailed over the Dutch team on penalties in the round-of-32 game after both sides exhausted the 120 minutes of regular and extra times had come from behind to drag the match to the point of spot kicks, with a stoppage-time header from Issa Diop to cancel out Cody Gakpo’s goal for the Oranjes.

The Atlas Lions, which would now face Canada, one of the co-hosts, next in a round-of-16 clash on July 4, had recorded 70 per cent of ball possession and more attempts than European team, making 878 passes, more than twice that of their opponent, with 91 percent accuracy.

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The North African side, the first team in the continent with the most impressive record in the global competition, reaching semi-finals in the last edition, successfully implemented a highline strategy and attempted 193 successful forward passes with 80 percent in the final third, compared to Netherlands’ 37 percent success.

Stating that the team remained fearless against the Netherlands, resulting from a shift in the country’s mentality after the Qatari experience, added: “The World Cup in Qatar changed the mentality of the Morocco team, and I’m well placed to speak about this.

“What we need to be telling ourselves is no one can stop us,” he said. “We’re unstoppable if we play the football that we know how to play.

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“But nobody is unbeatable. And I tell my guys that as well. If we get things wrong, we’ll go home, and we need to ensure that we have all the tools that we’re using, the tools in our arsenal to go as far as we can, and that’s the mentality that we want all of our players in Morocco to have.”

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Not even Lamine Yamal’s second half introduction could help Spain break through the defence of debutants, Cape Verde, in their first ever meeting, as the ongoing World Cup event produced another one of the stunning results on Monday.

Yamal, the Barcelona superstar just recovering from a near two-month hamstring injury, was brought into the game in the second half to zest up the one-time world champion, but failed to break down the Cape Verde’s dogged defence.

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Spain’s in the game played in Atlanta, one of the cities hosting the three-nation Mundial, displayed the same dismal outing, which saw them offering far less than the quality, which saw them lifting the trophy for the first time in 2010.

The European champions, which have not won a knockout game ever since, failed to dominate the African side, replicating their less than impressing outings and their eventual exit in 2018 and 2022 editions, even with the claims of coach Luis de la Fuente that the squad was the best in the competition, Spain were considered among the pre-tournament.

Neither Yamal nor Nico Williams, who also was hit by an injury-disrupted season at Athletic Bilbao and was not introduced until the 87th minute, were able to rise to the occasion against the 500,000 people African side, ranked 67 in the world, which is making their debut on the global stage.

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In stark contrast to the searing temperatures faced by some other sides, Atlanta’s state-of-the-art air conditioned stadium meant there was no excuses for the slow tempo of Spain’s build-up.

Indeed the mid-half hydration break was met by boos with fans frustrated at the break in play despite the cool conditions.

The only serious move from the European champions only came at the  sixth minute to half-time, when Marc Cucurella, fresh for sealing his move from Chelsea to Real Madrid, sent over a teasing cross that Ferran Torres turned onto the crossbar and Cabo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha got back on his feet to turn Mikel Oyarzabal’s looping header over the bar.

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Even after the break, the Blue Sharks, were also able to hold back from the onslaught as they did in the first half, where Vozinho, managed to make another superlative save against Aymeric Laporte’s header just before half-time.

Despite the excitement from the crowd after he was introduced, Yamal, billed as one of the stars of the tournament, failed to create any magic with his first touch being the set-up of a decent opening for fellow substitute Mikel Merino which was too close to Vozinha.

In fact, Cabo Verde billed to take on Uruguay in Miami, nearly snatched a famous victory in the final minute of the 90 when Dani Borges planted a header too close to Unai Simon, who saved the occasion, to prevent the former world champions, billed to face Saudi Arabia in Atlanta on Sunday from humiliation.

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