Henry warns England paid the price for waking Messi as Argentina reach World Cup final

Lionel Messi turned a quiet semi-final performance into a match-winning masterclass as Argentina came from behind to beat England and advance to the World Cup final, with Thierry Henry warning afterwards that the Three Lions had made a costly mistake by antagonising the 39-year-old.

England took the lead in the 55th minute and appeared to have the game under control, but Messi — largely subdued until that point — came alive on the right-hand side as England sat deep with five at the back. He set up both of Argentina’s late goals to break English hearts and send the defending champions to a second consecutive World Cup final, where they will face Spain.

“He reminded us he is human; he missed some penalties, four out of eight,” Henry told FOX. “Then he reminds us again he’s not human. I’ve played with him as you just mentioned. What happens with Leo, sometimes… don’t wake up the beast.”

Henry, a former Barcelona teammate of Messi and a World Cup winner himself with France, recalled witnessing that same switch flipped in training. “I’ve seen him in training… when the coach doesn’t call a foul, the coach was like ‘stop complaining’ when the ball went out. Then you look in his eyes and he switches. He goes and gets the ball and scores three goals in a row by robbing the ball off you. Next time, call a foul!”

Messi had also been involved in a heated exchange with Jude Bellingham during the match, a flashpoint Henry suggested contributed to the Argentine’s galvanised second-half display. “He’s just unstoppable when he goes into that mood. When his team needs him, he raises his game — a guy who played 120 minutes the other day, gets the ball and tries to dribble past everybody… wow.”

Henry drew on his time playing alongside Messi, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho to place the Argentine’s performance in its proper context. “It’s not shameful to say that at times he scored some goals and it took me two seconds and I just said ‘wow’. When you’re playing, it doesn’t happen often to me. He’s one of a kind.”

With the World Cup final against Spain in New York on Sunday likely to represent the conclusion of Messi’s international career, Henry described the moment as something beyond sport. “This is Hollywood stuff. It’s almost like when you script that — it’s a movie which won’t happen in real life. But Messi writes it. This guy writes history with his feet.”

England, meanwhile, will travel to Miami for the bronze-medal match against France on Saturday.