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Despite starting Argentina’s FIFA U-20 World Cup Netherlands 2005 opener against USA on the bench, it didn’t take long for Lionel Messi to prove that he belonged on the pitch.
Though he had yet to explode on to the scene, the young prodigy was already on Argentina’s national-team radar. He was already starting to make waves at Barcelona, and a video of Messi had even reached then-Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa. Somewhat perplexed by what he was seeing, he turned to his assistant, Claudio Vivas, and asked that the video be played at regular speed, convinced that the footage had been sped up.
But it hadn’t; the player in focus was simply dribbling with astonishing velocity. Yet Messi remained relatively unknown among fans in his homeland, having traded the youth ranks of Newell’s Old Boys for the promise of Europe aged just 13.
In the year before FIFA’s showpiece youth tournament, the Argentinian Football Association organised a low-key friendly for the U-20s against Paraguay at Argentinos Juniors’ stadium. No more than 500 people watched the action unfold. The purpose? To take a closer look at a young Messi. Introduced after the break, he wasted no time in making his mark, scoring once and assisting two. Following his spellbinding display at just 17, he established himself as a fixture in Hugo Tocalli’s U-20 squad.
By the time Netherlands 2005 came along, Francisco Ferraro had taken over from Tocalli, who himself had been appointed as Jose Pekerman’s assistant with the senior team. Ferrara opted to leave Messi on the bench for Argentina’s tournament opener against the USA, in which the Albiceleste fell to a 1-0 defeat. Sporting the number 18 shirt, a short-haired and fresh-faced Messi entered proceedings after the interval, injecting impetus and dynamism into the sky-blue-and-white stripes, but he couldn’t help them find a leveller.
One of Messi’s team-mates at the 2005 tournament, Gustavo Oberman, told FIFA: “Messi has all the qualities he had when he was 18 or 19, plus everything he’s learnt since. You’d watch him and he’d do things that I’d never seen before and have never seen since. As well as dribbling at lightning speed with the ball glued to his feet, he could switch gears effortlessly, suddenly putting on the brakes and then accelerating again.”
Argentina favoured a 4-4-2 formation in which Messi was deployed as a playmaker with the freedom to roam across the frontline. A perfectly blended double pivot saw Juan Manuel Torres tasked protecting the defence, enabling Fernando Gago to orchestrate. On the right, Pablo Zabaleta was the team’s steady, versatile and reliable leader, while the explosive Neri Cardozo provided pace on the left.
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“As is often the case, there is a backstory to why Messi came off the bench in that first game, and it was down to a combination of circumstances,” Oberman continued. “It was the last training session before our opening contest at the tournament. Jose Sosa landed awkwardly and fractured his hand, which meant we needed to shake things up. In that same session, amongst the substitutes, Kun [Aguero] and Messi played up top and I was on the right of the midfield. I played really well and scored twice. The next day, when we got to the tactical briefing, I could hardly believe it when I saw my name up on the board. Messi and Kun weren’t on there. Pancho later told us that they were going to try to rest Messi because he was carrying a knock. Things didn’t go according to plan against the USA. Messi had to come on and we lost 1-0.”
From the moment that he was selected to start Argentina’s second outing against Egypt, Messi proved time and again that he deserved to be in the starting line-up. As Bielsa had experienced a year earlier, watching him dribble was like someone had hit the fast-forward button. La Pulga was especially adept in 1v1s where, despite his short stature, his extraordinary explosiveness enabled him to surge past opponents and wreak havoc.
“Besides including Messi, it was a really mature group, with a number of players who already had 20 to 30 top-flight appearances under their belt,” Oberman stated. “We had Pablo Zabaleta captaining us, who had an experienced head despite still growing into his frame. We had good options all over the pitch and were a well-rounded outfit. We could freshen up the midfield and you’d hardly notice: whether it was [Lucas] Biglia, [Rodrigo] Archubi, Neri Cardozo or Chaco Torres.”
Messi blossomed as the tournament progressed, and his influence went from strength to strength. Ferraro, nevertheless managed his game time. He was withdrawn in the closing stages in victories against both Egypt and Germany. In the latter – a result that saw Argentina progress as Group D runners-up – La Pulga was unable to contain his frustration as he took his place in the dugout. One thing was plain to see: he didn’t like being substituted, and always wanted to be helping his team.
“Just as he is today, he was competitive; he wants to win and doesn’t like to come off,” defender Lautaro Formica, who also featured in the 2005 squad, said. “Once he sets his sights on something, he goes after it and strives to make it happen. He’s such a competitive guy.”
“Messi is an out-and-out competitor and winning means everything to him,” Oberman added. “He always wants to compete and win, and he never wants to come off. And while he may have vented his frustration at being substituted by gesturing to the coach, he later went to talk to Ferraro to apologise and explain that he didn’t like being replaced, that he wanted to play the whole game.”
From the Round of 16 onwards, Messi put on a real show as his mercurial talent was unleashed. He found the net in every knockout encounter (a feat that he would later repeat at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™) and guided Argentina all the way to the coveted crown, thanks in no small part to a rip-roaring strike in the semi-final clash against Brazil and a pair of calmly dispatched penalties in the tournament showpiece against Nigeria. He would ultimately take home both the adidas Golden Ball and adidas Golden Shoe awards following a six-goal haul.
With Chile 2025 now looming, Argentina will look to their current cohort with confidence while cherishing the legacy of their previous youth sides, beginning with Diego Maradona’s emergence in 1979 and echoed across several other iterations – perhaps none more iconic than Messi’s coming-of-age performances two decades ago.
Argentina’s 2005 U-2 World Cup results
Goalscorer: Chad Barrett
Goalscorers: Lionel Messi and Pablo Zabaleta
Goalscorer: Neri Cardozo
Argentina goalscorers: Lionel Messi and Julio Barroso
Colombia goalscorer: Harrison Otalvaro
Argentina goalscorers: Pablo Zabaleta, Gustavo Oberman and Lionel Messi
Spain goalscorer: Alberto Zapater
Argentina goalscorers: Lionel Messi and Pablo Zabaleta
Brazil goalscorer: Renato
Argentina goalscorer: Lionel Messi (2)
Nigeria goalscorer: Chinedu Obasi
