‘Messi’s World Cup: The Rise of a Legend’ review: An epic fit for an epic victory

On December 18th, 2022, Argentina won the FIFA World Cup. As millions watched, Lionel Messi, one of the best players in the history of the game, raised the trophy he had worked his entire career for, and that had eluded him many times. As soon as that happened, celebrations exploded all over Argentina; approximately 3 million people poured onto the streets of Buenos Aires. The Scaloni, the nickname given to this iteration of Argentina’s national team, made it to the history books as being responsible for the country’s third World Cup.

It’s hard to state how much this victory meant for fans of the Argentine national team, and even harder to express how much it meant to Messi, the player who had achieved everything but that title. However, doing so is the purpose of Apple TV+’s new documentary, Messi’s World Cup: The Rise of a Legend, a four-episode epic that goes behind the scenes of this victory, reflecting on Messi’s career, his obstacles, and providing a beautiful and engaging depiction of this extraordinary sporting achievement.

Directed by Argentine filmmakers Juan Baldana and Daniel Rosenfeld, this four-part documentary series is a joint collaboration between SMUGGLER Entertainment and Pegsa and, as stated, anchors itself around the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Audiences follow the team during each of the games, going into detail about each of the notable moments, the most dramatic plays, from new angles, and with cinematic grandeur that serves as a reminder of how exciting it is to watch these games, introducing new audiences their drama and intensity.

More than soccer

What makes Messi’s World Cup a remarkable documentary is that it’s not only about Messi. Sure, the focus of the story is about him, the team, and this historic World Cup victory. Additionally, there are interviews with other players like Sergio “Kun” Agüero, the goalkeeper Emiliano “Dibu” Martinez, Rodrigo De Paul, the team’s coach Lionel Scaloni, and renowned sports broadcasters like Roger Bennet, Gary Lineker, and Andrés Cantor.

However, each episode goes beyond soccer, as audiences get to know to what Messi, and soccer as a whole, means to Argentinians. From interviews with fans who saved for years to go to Qatar, to depictions of the multiple buildings in Argentina with murals dedicated to Messi and even beautiful montages of celebrations from the Obelisco in Buenos Aires to New York, London, and even Pakistan (which has a surprising number of fans of the Argentine National team.) This makes the documentary soar from a normal sports documentary to a love letter to football.

This becomes especially evident with its portrayal of the sport. John W. Rutland’s beautiful cinematography takes the high-intensity games and infuses them with an epic flare that doesn’t isolate Messi in the spotlight. For instance, the documentary portrays goalkeeper Emiliano “Dibu” Martinez’s performance in a superheroic light, while also highlighting Kylian Mbappé’s impressive precision on the field. When the portrayal combines with the context added in each episode, Messi’s World Cup evokes a sense of stakes behind every play and every penalty kick. This engagement captivates both experienced soccer fans and newcomers to the sport, effectively conveying the significance of Argentina’s victory in this cup to fans around the world.

Qatar 2022 (Argentina’s Version)

However, this reliance on context is paradoxically one of the shortcomings of the series. An effective documentary uses the language of film to provide context to reality and to generate a deeper understanding of the stories that surround us. While it is important for audiences to understand each of the challenges Messi faced throughout his career, and it ends up being helpful at creating stakes, it does come at the expense of some elements of the story of the World Cup, which, at the end of the day, is the stated focus of the documentary. For instance, the introduction of the French national team as a historic antagonist and Mbappé’s rise as a contender for the title of “best in the world” doesn’t happen until the last quarter of the series and it doesn’t give enough time to truly capture the intensity of that rivalry in the respective fandoms. 

Moreover, there’s no mention of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, another global superstar facing similar pressures as Messi and who, for years, served as his counterpart and rival. This doesn’t mean that Messi’s World Cup is not a good documentary. It does a wonderful job of portraying the recent history of Argentina’s national football team but is by no means definitive of its role during the Qatar 2022 cup. Nevertheless, as audiences in the U.S. become more familiar with the world of international football, and as Messi himself just joined the MLS for Inter Miami, this is the perfect documentary to kick off a deeper appreciation for the beautiful game. 

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Images Courtesy of Apple TV+