Leo Messi Said Playing Against Mexico Was Argentina’s ‘Most Difficult’ World Cup Match

Argentina soccer giant Leo Messi just shared thought-provoking insight into his World Cup experience. While Messi led Argentina to nab their third-ever World Cup win, there were some bumps along the road. Sure, Argentina’s shocking loss against Saudi Arabia seemed like the team’s lowest point — but the soccer player just shared that their game against Mexico was the “most difficult.”

Messi revealed startling new insight in his most recent sit-down

Leo Messi sat down with Urbana Play 104.3 FM to talk about everything from how heavy the 18-karat gold World Cup trophy is, to Maradona, to his adoration for his wife and kids. The full, 45-minute interview is a delight, and shows a calm, relaxed Messi — no doubt still basking in his Copa Mundial glory.

That being said, one of the most surprising parts of the interview occurs right at the end. By minute 42:00, Urbana Play Interviewer Andy Kusnetzoff asks the Rosario-born player about Argentina’s losing game against Saudi Arabia. To that, Messi explained how “in that moment,” they “weren’t so confident” about whether they were going to take the golden trophy home.

Move over France— Messi said Argentina’s game against Mexico was the “most difficult”

Still, their match against Saudi Arabia was actually not their most challenging, even if they lost. In fact, although Argentina’s 2-0 win against Mexico brought tears to Mexicanos everywhere— the game was the team’s “most difficult” out of the entire World Cup.

Leo Messi described, “I think the game against Mexico was the most difficult one we had to play.”

The soccer player explained that although they won, the Mexico game was the match where Argentina played “the worst.”

The Argentine player also said they played “the worst” in their game against Mexico

As Messi put it, he believes they played the “worst” because of the pressure they felt in order to go on to the next round. He said that “sometimes makes you play differently,” but he was still “confident” that they would win. Why? Mostly because of his teammates — without them, he says it would have been “much more difficult.”

Leo Messi’s comments about the Mexico game are shocking to many, especially when considering Argentina’s 2-0 win. Mexicans everywhere can (unfortunately) remember Argentina’s two goals by the second half, particularly Messi’s minute-63 game-changer:

Maybe that’s why people are reacting so fervently to Messi’s recent comments. As one Twitter user put it, “Messi saying that the most difficult game was against Mexico, and us thinking we could never win… it’s all about our mentality.”