Phenomenal Lionel Messi has shown at World Cup that he’s the best: Emile Heskey

SINGAPORE – At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, an 18-year-old Lionel Messi gave the world a glimpse of what was to come.

Coming off the bench against Serbia and Montenegro, the tournament debutant scored and provided an assist in Argentina’s 6-0 rout, offering the first flashes of a brilliance that would define an era.

Two decades on, Messi is still commanding football’s biggest stage. Now 39 and playing in his sixth World Cup, he continues to captivate fans and fellow professionals.

Not only has the Argentinian captain guided his side to a second successive World Cup final, he has also surged to the top of the Golden Boot standings with eight goals – level with French star Kylian Mbappe on goals but one assist ahead.

The forward is also the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with 21.

Among those in awe of his longevity is former England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, who hailed the Inter Miami forward as “phenomenal”.

Heskey said: “I played till 38, I played in the Championship and the pace was so intense.

“Granted he plays a different way, everything’s structured around him, but there are times when no one can get near him and he’s a 39-year-old player, so it goes to show he is the best.

“He’s not even playing in a competitive league in my eyes, but he’s still showing up at the World Cup, which is the elite of the elite and no one can get near him when he wants to turn it on.”

The 48-year-old, who played in the 2002 and 2010 World Cups, was speaking to The Sunday Times on the sidelines of a fan meet-and-greet session at CHIJMES on July 18.

He will attend two more meetings at the Capitol Theatre Singapore on July 19 and 20, alongside the watch parties for the third-place play-off and the final respectively.

Heskey noted that Messi’s strength lies not just in scoring goals, but also in creating chances, as shown in Argentina’s 2-1 comeback win over England in the semi-finals, where he produced two crucial assists.

Despite his admiration for Messi, Heskey believes that Spain will prevail over Argentina in the final on July 19 (July 20 Singapore time).

He believes La Roja can dominate possession to limit Messi’s influence, unlike England who struggled to keep the ball in the semi-final.

From Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute to Lautaro Martinez’s winner in the second minute of stoppage time, England had 12 per cent possession compared to Argentina’s 88 per cent.

Heskey said: “I think they’ll control a lot more of the play than England did against Argentina and put more pressure on.

“They’ve got players that go under the radar a little bit, they’re scoring goals, like Mikel Oyarzabal.

“You’ve got Lamine Yamal, you’ve got all these players who are just outstanding and they play a type of football that dictates everything so it’d be interesting to see how Argentina goes about that.”

Another player who has impressed him is Alexander Isak, who scored once and notched three assists in Sweden’s run to the round of 32 at the World Cup before falling to France.

The 26-year-old endured a difficult first season with Liverpool, after joining the Reds from Newcastle United for a British-record fee of £125 million (S$217 million) in September 2025.

An injury-impacted campaign limited the striker to just four goals across 22 appearances, but Heskey is encouraged by the Swede’s World Cup performance.

He said: “He needs to get a good pre-season behind him, get an understanding from the players he’s playing with to get the best out of himself – we’ve seen what he’s capable of doing at the World Cup and we’ve missed that a little bit so we need that a lot more from him.”

The Reds could use a midfielder and a centre-back, he noted, while highlighting France and Paris Saint-Germain forward Bradley Barcola as a good target, especially with the Premier League looking like a five-way fight next season.

Apart from reigning champions Arsenal and runners-up Manchester City, Heskey also sees Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea as contenders.

He said: “Manchester United look like they’ve given it a go. They finished strongly last season and they’ll hope it transitions into the following season.

“Then Liverpool with a new boss (Andoni Iraola), you never know what’s going to happen. He looks like a boss who will suit the way we want to play so we’re all looking forward to that.

“Chelsea have got Xabi Alonso and that’ll be interesting to see, after what he did with Bayer Leverkusen. He’ll be wanting to transition that into Chelsea although it didn’t quite translate at Real Madrid.”

Known as a strong, imposing target man during his playing days, Heskey is now excited to see his sons Jaden and Reigan make their own marks in football.

Both came through City’s academy and while Jaden, 20, has remained there, Reigan, 18, has just signed for Bundesliga side Cologne in a deal worth up to £8 million, according to the BBC.

On what it has been like watching them, he said: “One of the things I always tell them to do is to go and enjoy themselves because at some stage, it becomes a job and it becomes difficult, but as long as you can have that enjoyment, you’ll love football.

“I’m excited to see how their careers go.”