Soccer
Who is better, Messi or Maradona? Lineker makes his pick
FIFA+: World Cup archive & programmes FREE on DAZN
As the World Cup comes into focus, an age-old debate raises its head once again.
No, it's not who is better, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo; instead, it's the same question, but focusing on Messi and the legendary Diego Maradona.
Up until the last World Cup four years ago in Qatar, there was a consensus amongst the Argentinian people that Messi had yet to reach the same level of admiration as Maradona. This was because the latter had won a World Cup, while Messi, for all his domestic achievements, had yet to lift football's biggest prize.
In Lusail, Messi finally did it. After inspiring Argentina to the final, they beat defending champions France on penalties, and Messi scored two goals in a 3-3 draw before putting away his penalty in a 4-2 shootout victory.
Lionel Messi’s greatest World Cup moments
This victory saw Messi finally immortalised with Maradona, with the pair frequently appearing together on flags and any sort of Argentinian footballing memorabilia, but this year's World Cup will see Messi, who is once again the Argentina captain, attempt to go one better than Maradona and win the famous trophy for a second time.
If Messi and Argentina do manage to win the trophy for a fourth time, then there will be a case for the 38-year-old to surpass Maradona in terms of legendary status.
Major Maradona flaw might give Messi slight edge in debate
One man who knows what it's like to share the pitch with Maradona is former England striker Gary Lineker, who went head-to-head with the football icon in the infamous quarter-final between the Three Lions and Argentina at the 1986 World Cup.
Speaking on The Rest is Football with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, Lineker was asked to make his pick for the better player out of Messi and Maradona.
"It’s a really hard question to answer because there are real similarities. Both have great left foots," Lineker said.
"I thought I’d never see a better player than Diego because he just did stuff I’d never see anyone do until Messi came along."
DAZN/FIFALineker then spoke about one possible flaw in Maradona which may give Messi the edge in the debate.
"Maradona had a flaw, his personality, he was addictive and he got into trouble with addiction, you have to take that into account.
"Ability-wise, so similar. I think Messi has been more professional, lived better and has given himself the best possible chance."
Watch World Cup archive, highlights and documentaries for FREE on DAZN
DAZN is the home of FIFA+ , a vast library of football on-demand content including World Cup archive, iconic documentaries, player profiles, live matches and both full match replays and highlights.
Watch it all for FREE on DAZN on smart TVs, phones, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles and web browsers.
