Lusail Iconic Stadium is so vast that it looks and feels way too big to be a football ground.
It holds 90,000 fans and was built to be the centrepiece of the Qatar World Cup : shining and lit up on the outside and fireworks, pumping music and no expense spared on the inside. Whatever you make of this World Cup, the organisers were determined to make it work - at any cost.
As a pure football tournament, it has been well organised, many fans have enjoyed it and no set of supporters have brought more to the party than Argentina. They have been loud, they have been decked out in blue and white and, at every game, they have come to pay homage to Lionel Messi.
The gentle rhythmic song “Messi, Messi, Messi” will resonate long after this World Cup and if they do lift the trophy on Sunday, then one iconic picture should be the image of this tournament.
It was from the semi-final, Messi had just destroyed the Croatia defence and he stood in front of the Argentina fans behind that goal, held his arms out wide and it was as if he was embracing them while they worshipped their hero.
Do you want Lionel Messi to win the World Cup? Comment here.
The connection between the Argentina fans and the team is really quite something and it is the driving force behind their revival from them losing their opening game against Saudi Arabia to where they are now.
Argentina’s win over Croatia was by far and away their best performance of the World Cup and Messi lifts this team to a different, higher level. The No.10 scampers all over the pitch, dribbling and lighting up a tournament in what will be his farewell to the biggest stage.
He is 35, this is his last chance of winning the trophy and it felt like destiny after Croatia. This World Cup needs an icon. Messi lifting the trophy at Lusail Stadium will be exactly what Qatar was praying for all along.
