Kane and Wright hail Messi’s exceptional crossing after England heartbreak

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Roy Keane and Ian Wright have paid tribute to Lionel Messi’s “unbelievably good” crossing after Argentina’s dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over England in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final.

While the 39-year-old’s brilliance is often defined by dribbling and goals, it was his willingness to adapt that earned special praise from the former Manchester United and Arsenal icons.

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A tactical masterclass

With Argentina trailing 1-0 after Anthony Gordon’s 55th-minute opener and England retreating deeper, Messi recognised that dribbling past three or four defenders was no longer the answer.

“I’ll create space for myself, even if it’s just one metre, and then I’ll deliver a cross,” Keane said, explaining Messi’s thought process. “I won’t try to dribble past three or four players; I’ll just put the ball into the box.”

Every time Messi received the ball, he had several England players around him. Yet he still found room to operate, delivering crosses that proved decisive.

“That shows his incredible understanding of the game,” Keane added. “What a genius! He understood exactly what the match required and acted accordingly. By the end of the game, you could clearly see the impact of his decisions.”

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Wright: ‘He should have had three more assists’

Ian Wright was equally effusive, suggesting Messi’s numbers could have been even more remarkable.

“Honestly, he should have had three more assists because there were three almost guaranteed headed chances,” Wright said.

In the end, Messi provided two assists—first laying the ball back to Enzo Fernández, who curled home a superb 85th-minute equaliser from outside the box, then delivering a cross to the far post for Lautaro Martínez’s stoppage-time winner.

The second assist was particularly telling: Messi beat England’s Djed Spence on the right flank before delivering a pinpoint cross over Jordan Pickford to an unmarked Martínez.

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Keane: ‘People won’t remember him for crosses’

Keane acknowledged that crossing might not be the first thing that comes to mind when future generations recall Messi’s greatness.

“Everyone talks about his genius, but what stood out to me the most were his crosses. His deliveries were unbelievably good,” he said.

“Twenty years from now, people won’t remember Messi because of his crosses. They’ll remember him for his individual brilliance, his goals, and his incredible consistency at the highest level for so many years. But today, his crossing was exceptional.”

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The deeper debate

The discussion followed a heated exchange between Keane and Gary Neville over whether England should have assigned a dedicated man-marker to track Messi.

Neville argued that Tuchel should have instructed Nico O’Reilly to “stay with Messi” and prevent him from receiving the ball on the flank. Keane dismissed the idea as impractical: “Football’s not like that. You can’t stand next to people”.

The argument proved academic. Messi finished with 10 successful dribbles—as many as the other 31 players on the pitch combined—and became the first player in World Cup history to record 10 assists in knockout matches.

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Sunday’s final

Argentina will face Spain in Sunday’s final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. If Messi delivers more crosses like those against England, Spain’s defence will have been warned.