Argentina arrived at this World Cup as the holders, and once again much of what they do runs through Lionel Messi. At 39, in what is widely regarded as his final World Cup, he remains the team's chief creator and reference point. That reliance is a strength, given who he is, but also a risk as the tournament wears on, and it is the reason a returning Julian Alvarez matters so much, ESPN reported.
The Messi question
The debate around Argentina is not whether Messi is still decisive; he plainly is. It is whether a team leaning on a player in the twilight of his career can sustain that through the most demanding phase of a World Cup, when matches come thick and fast and opponents grow more organized. Messi has often dropped deep to collect the ball and dictate play, work that is priceless but also taxing. Spread that responsibility, and Argentina both protect their captain and become harder to plan against.
What Alvarez brings
Alvarez, 23, is the natural candidate to share the burden. Developed at River Plate and honed in European football, he is a forward often described as having the instincts of a midfielder: a willing runner who presses, links play and finishes, rather than a pure poacher. That profile lets him do two useful things at once, relieving Messi of some of the defensive and build-up work while adding another genuine goal threat. At the 2022 World Cup, which Argentina won, Alvarez was among the team's most important attackers alongside Messi, and a return to that form would give the side a second focal point rather than a single one.
Managing the load
For the coaching staff, the appeal is as much about management as tactics. A team that can build its attack through more than one player can rotate responsibility, ease its most important man through the group of games that decide a tournament, and keep something in reserve for the closing stages. It also complicates life for opponents, who can plan to smother one great player far more easily than they can shut down several threats at once. The more Argentina can vary where danger comes from, the less predictable, and the more resilient, they become.
The bigger picture
None of this diminishes Messi, whose gravity still bends matches in Argentina's favor. The point is balance. A World Cup is rarely won by one player alone, even a player of Messi's stature, and the deepest runs tend to belong to teams with more than one way to hurt an opponent. For Argentina, chasing back-to-back titles and a fitting send-off for their talisman, a fit and sharp Alvarez may be the difference between a side that depends on Messi and one that is merely, and formidably, led by him.
