​  ByGuillem BalagueBBC Sport columnist7 June 2026If Argentina are to become the first nation to successfully defend their World Cup crown since 1962 – and just the third ever – you can almost guarantee Lionel Messi will be at the centre of it.The 38-year-old is preparing for his sixth World Cup – which will be a joint record with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa – but it will be a very different Messi from the one who made his debut for Barcelona back in 2003.Most players decline. The elite ones find ways to adapt. Ronaldo reinvented himself as a penalty-box predator when his pace went.Messi has not adapted to decline. He has adapted so he can dominate and stay ahead of a game that has always been chasing him.Since that 16-year-old made his Barca debut in a friendly against Jose Mourinho’s Porto, playing on the right, dribbling and often cutting inside, Messi has reinvented himself at least five times to evolve into the player he is now for Argentina and Inter Miami.Why Guardiola moved Messi away from the wingWhen Ronaldinho, the then best and most recognisable player in the world, saw him train for the first time, he said “he will be the best”.Two years later, in August 2005, Messi announced himself to the world in the Joan Gamper Trophy against Juventus. Fabio Capello, the Juventus manager, was so startled by the 18-year-old that he reportedly tried to sign him.By the time Messi was 21, with Ronaldinho fading and the baton passing, then Barca manager Frank Rijkaard was clear about what the team needed from him. “Right in the centre of things,” Rijkaard said. “The more he touches the ball, the better for the side.”During the first months of Guardiola in charge in 2008, the right side of the pitch was the Argentine’s corridor, his private road to goal.The first time Guardiola decided to move Messi away from the wing was for defensive reasons.He did not track back and the full-back struggled. But the Catalan manager knew that Messi was always going to end up in the centre of operations.And the team would be built around his new position, for the biggest of stages and the biggest of moments.Rivals: Messi v RonaldoWatch on BBC iPlayer from 06:00 BST on Friday, 5 JuneWatch on iPlayerListen to Sporting Giants Podcast four-part series on BBC SoundsThe false nine and the birth of a system-breakerThe date: 2 May 2009. The place: Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid. La Liga game.Guardiola made a decision. He pulled Messi off the right wing and placed him at the tip of the forward formation – but without the job of a traditional striker. Samuel Eto’o went right, Thierry Henry went left, and Messi was told: drop, receive, decide. By full-time it was 6-2. The false nine was reborn.It was nothing new. Gusztav Sebes’ Hungary had dismantled England in their own backyard back in 1953, when in their 6–3 win over England he repeatedly dropped Nandor Hidegkuti into midfield, pulling centre‑backs out of shape and creating space for Ferenc Pu  BBC Sport