On the night the universe willed Lionel Messi to kiss the 2022 FIFA World Cup trophy, I was in Mumbai. I was covering a women’s cricket series between India and Australia. There was no cricket match that Sunday, so I could watch the final football match live on television in my hotel room. At half-time, when Argentina was leading 2-0 against France, I told a colleague on the phone that only a Kylian Mbappé hat-trick could stop Messi from fulfilling his dream. As it turned out, even the Mbappé hat-trick wasn’t enough.
The first football World Cup I followed closely was the 1986 edition held in Mexico. I was in school then and there was no television in Wayanad. I depended on the BBC World Service radio for updates on that World Cup, which was made unforgettable by Deigo Maradona. I remember commentator Bryon Butler describing the little master’s second goal for Argentina against England in the quarter-final: “That is why he is the greatest player in the world. Diego Maradona 2, England nil.” That goal is regarded by many as the greatest-ever one scored on a football field. But the legend had scored his first goal with his hand. “The hand of God,” Maradona would say.
