Lionel Messi ya yi bikin ranar haihuwarsa ta 39 a matakin da ya fi girma da ƙwallon ƙafa zai iya bayarwa — FIFA World Cup 2026 — kuma, tare da Cristiano Ronaldo, yana tabbatar da cewa faɗuwar rana ta ayyukan tarihi guda biyu ba za a iya watsi da ita ba.

Messi ya kai wannan matsayin bayan ya riga ya haskaka gasar. Hat-trick a kan Algeria a wasan farko na Argentina ya biyo bayan brace a kan Austria, wanda ya ɗaga yawan kwallayen da ya ci a Kofin Duniya zuwa 18 — mafi yawan a tarihin gasar. Ronaldo, a nasa ɓangaren, bai jinkirta amsa masu sukar sa ba.

Ronaldo ya amsa masu shakka

Portugal ta yi 1-1 da DR Congo a wasan farko na ƙungiyarsu, wanda ya fallasa Ronaldo ga tambayoyi game da yanayinsa da rahotannin jayayya a cikin tawagar. Mintuna shida bayan fara wasan da Uzbekistan, sai ya yi shiru ga duka. Kwallon da ya ci ta mai da shi ɗan wasa na farko da ya taɓa ci kwallo a Kofin Duniya shida daban-daban: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, da 2026. Ya ƙara ta biyu daga baya don kammala brace.

Messi ma ya kasance a gasar shida irin waɗannan, amma bai sami kwallo ba a 2010. Kwallaye da aka ci akan Uzbekistan sun kawo ƙarshen fari na wasanni 11 na Kofin Duniya ga Ronaldo, da ya koma wasan farko na Portugal da Ghana a gasar 2022.