England star Jude Bellingham has revealed what he said to Lionel Messi to provoke the famous Argentina captain’s death glare.
It took just three minutes for the mood to flare in Thursday’s thrilling World Cup semi-final (AEST), which was won 2-1 by the returning Kings and defending champions Argentina.
Lionel Messi looks at Jude Bellingham. SBS
In Atlanta, Bellingham and Messi had a testy verbal spat that ended with Messi nodding in confusion and staring at his younger rival, apparently keeping the receipts.
The star couple constantly fought, and at one point Messi put Bellingham in a headlock.
Messi, 39, led his team to the final, providing assists to Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez.
Messi’s meme-god moment came in the post-match chatter on social media, with many users claiming Bellingham paid the price for poking the bear.
“There was no problem with Messi. We were actually talking about a foul,” Bellingham told reporters afterwards.
“There was nothing bad at all. I’m sure everyone will do their job and exaggerate it, but for me there was nothing. It was a privilege to meet Leo.”
England coach Thomas Tuchel paid the price for setting up Anthony Gordon’s 55th-minute goal.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said his players “smelled blood in the water” as England went into full-back and allowed Messi to go to work.
The victory saw tens of thousands of people fill the streets of Buenos Aires in rapturous celebrations and marked another remarkable comeback that demonstrated the perseverance of a team now one win away from back-to-back titles.
Argentina face European champions Spain in the final on Monday (AEST).
Argentina had earlier survived by beating Cape Verde and Switzerland in extra time and rallied for an incredible 3-2 win over Egypt after coming back from 2-0 down with 11 minutes of normal time to play.
Both the Swiss and Egyptian coaches criticized the refereeing.
Egypt national team player Hossam Hassan even said that his team was a victim of the football establishment, which favored Messi and Argentina.
The comments sparked criticism from fans who claim the FIFA standings favor La Albiceleste, as well as unsubstantiated accusations on social media claiming the governing body wants Argentina to become champions again.
“We have been the best for the last four years, whether you like it or not, and it doesn’t matter what anyone says,” Messi said after the win over England.
“We have once again established ourselves among the two best teams in the world. This proves that everything we did was not an accident and that nothing was handed to us…
“Reaching two World Cup finals in a row is something very few achieve and this group did it,” Messi said.
“If we had lost to England there would have been people who would have come out and talked nonsense, but we didn’t give them that opportunity.”
Jude Bellingham and Lionel Messi compete for the ball in front of the England goal. Getty Images
Former football team captain Craig Foster told Stan Sport’s Time added that Messi, the leading goalscorer and assister in World Cup history, has risen to a “different level” than other legendary players.
“This is his third World Cup final in four seasons. Twenty players have two World Cups and of course only one has three, that’s Pele.”
“Messi already has his head in the clouds and in Argentina he is a saint. He can win his second World Cup here and surpass Maradona, which is quite amazing.”
Australian goalkeeper great Mark Bosnich agreed that Messi was “the greatest player of all time”. – with AP