Lionel Messi could finally win a World Cup with Argentina at the end of this week. It's likely to be the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner's final chance to win the competition, but his side have every chance of doing exactly that.
First though, they have to get past a resilient Croatia side led by Real Madrid stalwart Luka Modric. Despite going to penalties twice already at this year's World Cup, the Croatians have managed to eliminate both Japan and tournament favourites Brazil as they look to make the final of the competition for the second-time running.
That wouldn't be the fairytale ending some might think Messi deserves, though. The now Paris-Saint Germain forward has been a superstar for the best part of two decades, largely because of decisions he's made both on and off the pitch.
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That includes rejecting advances from some of the world's biggest clubs as he showed devout loyalty to Barcelona. Although Messi looks to be back to his best at PSG, the move to Ligue 1 probably never would've happened if it wasn't for Barca's enormous debt. The La Liga side, who owed €1.35billion (£1.16billion) following years of overspending and the financial ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, simply couldn't afford to give Messi a new contract and had to let him go.
However, he had several chances to move abroad before then. In fact, he even nearly moved to Premier League giants Arsenal and Chelsea at separate stages of his career.
Arsene Wenger's Gunners came calling right at the beginning of Messi's career, just like they did with his former teammate Cesc Fabregas when the Spaniard was just 16. In fact, Messi's former agent, Fabian Soldini, has even admitted that he nearly made the move to north London.
Speaking to Spanish outlet Marca in 2021, Soldini said: "[Messi] was tempted to go to Arsenal, but he didn't go. I remember the day that Cesc (Fabregas) asked to leave. Messi was also asked to go, but he didn't want to leave."
Some years later, after a more than successful spell with Barca, Messi seemingly agreed a move to Chelsea but the Argentine's move to Stamford Bridge collapsed.
Gianluca Di Marzio revealed that Roman Abramovich reached an informal agreement with Messi in 2014 over a contract. The Russian billionaire reportedly agreed to give the forward an annual wage of $65million (£56.3million) plus 70% of image rights - something Messi was keen on signing. However, after his father was made aware of the plans by an intermediary - who was angry he was squeezed out of the negotiations - a deal collapsed.
There's probably plenty more of these stories out there, but no-one can say he made a wrong decision along the way. Now with just three games to go out in Qatar, he's desperately close to winning the World Cup for Argentina for the first time since 1986, something that would cap off a truly immaculate career.
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