Lionel Messi is in a good place right now — and it shows. A clip from Argentina's arrival in Miami is making the rounds online, and it's exactly the kind of content you get from a squad that's winning and loose. One of his teammates walked through airport security carrying a BBQ lighter. It got confiscated. Messi saw it happen and lost it.
The clip speaks for itself. Full, genuine laughter — not a polite smile for the cameras. When you've scored six goals in the group stage and you're defending a World Cup title on home soil, even a confiscated lighter is the funniest thing in the world.
Messi's form makes everything funnier
There's a reason the mood is this relaxed. Messi arrives in Miami sitting on 19 World Cup goals — the most in the competition's history — and carrying a seven-game scoring streak that no one else in the tournament's history has matched. Argentina face Cabo Verde in their Round of 32 tie on July 4 at Miami Stadium, a city that's essentially become Messi's second home.
Those who figured his move to Inter Miami in 2023 was a graceful wind-down have had to do some serious backtracking. He's not coasting. He led Inter to a Leagues Cup in his first season, then an MLS title last year — the club's first in its short history. A franchise that didn't exist before 2018 now has silverware in the cabinet, largely because of him.
At international level, the story is the same. Argentina aren't just participating in this World Cup — they're the team everyone else has to solve. Their odds to defend the title shorten with every Messi goal, and at 19 and counting, there's no sign of the streak breaking anytime soon.
The lighter is gone. Argentina aren't.
