LUSAIL, Qatar -- If Lionel Messi is to finally lift the World Cup, he is doing it the hard way. Genius can only only you take you so far, especially if your team is as flawed as Messi's Argentina, but the fairytale story can still have the perfect ending.
It might even happen with the ultimate pay-off line of Cristiano Ronaldo being on the other side with Portugal (should they emerge from the side of the bracket that includes France, England, and Morocco) when it does.