It’s safe to say that after the time of Diego Maradona and his band of misfits in the Argentine national team, the current generation is the purest ‘Golden Generation’ the country has given birth to. The national team boasts an almost embarrassing forward-line depth coupled with midfielders and defenders who play for some of the best clubs in the world.
And the messiah leading all these warriors is FC Barcelona’s very own Lionel Messi. The reason the club is mentioned there is because of its role in giving to the world a phenomenon unlike any other from the days of Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.
Yet, time is a cruel being and has drained Messi of the influence he can have on the field considerably. We’re already at a stage when the club is planning a future without the talismanic forward. #TheNextMessi movement is in full swing and should FC Barcelona continue to dominate with an iron fist in the future, they’re going to have to widen their search for his successor.
Also read: 5 players who were dubbed the next Messi - where are they now?
Here’s looking at five countries world-over who could give us the next Lionel Messi:
Brazil
Neymar and Philippe Coutinho are currently amongst the calibre of players making Brazil a footballing side for the future. Despite the poor performance in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 and 2016 Copa America, the Selecao have it safe with the kind of players coming through the ranks.
They say South America produces the world’s best players because of the hunger that exists within individuals to carve out a piece in modern, first-class society for themselves and their families. And should Brazil’s fragile economy continue to stand as is, there’s a chance we’re looking at a shift of power within the southern continent – on the field, that is.
With more and more European clubs setting up scouting bases in Brazil and tapping young players up by offering European footballing education, it won't be long before someone comes along and blows everyone to bits with what he’s capable of with the ball at his feet.
Chile
A country inspired by back-to-back Copa America titles is a country on the upward curve with the current and future generation. Mauricio Isla, Claudio Bravo, Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez are only a few names in the side taking the fight to Argentina and Brazil.
But their achievements have given an entire country’s youth an excuse to consider a career in professional football. Chile’s domestic league system isn’t the most efficient or organised – at least when compared to their European counterparts – but the growth of quality in the teams regularly convincing in the Copa Libertadores is promising.
With youngsters all over Europe learning from the best, it isn’t too long a wait to expect the country to produce someone who could compete with the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Spain
Years after Lionel Messi made his debut for the Catalan giants, the country – a la, the clubs – were in the process of upgrading their youth systems, youth academies, scouting networks and understood and learnt new methods of communication. All in the hope that La Roja will be able to exploit the chance of fielding the next Lionel Messi.
Spain remains one of the most sought-after destinations for footballers because of the La Liga, the youth system and the general approach to football. If England’s approach to football is brash, Spain’s is a more surgical one. And the kind that allows youth footballers the chance to grow into players they never thought possible.
Barcelona, Espanyol, Sevilla, Valencia, Real Betis, Real Zaragoza, Real Vallecano and Malaga are some of the academies in Spain that continue to give to the world a high number of world-class players. And every year, we’re introduced to some of them because of a big-money move to one of Europe’s elite.
If there’s a chance for a European giant to produce a true giant on the field, it’s Spain, amongst a handful of others.
France
All this attention on young Kylian Mbappe is something the France national team’s football fans ought to get used to. The AS Monaco youngster is just one of the many stars coming through the ranks of an excellently well-planned youth setup – one of the very best in the world.
France was a market for world-class talent a little over a decade ago with their FIFA World Cup winning squad demanding the biggest of clubs chase after them. Fast forward to date and you’ll find that clubs are going back to the country in search of the next superstar.
There’s something about youth footballers in France that’s almost unmatched anywhere else in the continent. It’s either the humbleness, the killer instinct or them just wanting to emerge from the shadows and get back onto the stage where the light shines the brightest. Whatever it is, it’s working.
Argentina
While it seems an easy option to consider Argentina as the country that could very well give us Lionel Messi’s successor, it also seems highly possible given the kind of youngsters coming through the ranks from the South American giant.
Paulo Dybala and Maximiliano Romero are just two of the hundreds of names that could very well go on to replace their country’s captain and talisman in the future. And they’re just the trailer for what’s to come. Argentina is one of the most scouted countries in football.
They produce world-class footballers on a yearly basis and have been hitting the sweet spot for a while now with so many youngsters getting the chance to play for the senior side. While some are just out-and-out finished products, the renegades – as is Messi – are beginning to climb through the cracks.
The answer to FC Barcelona’s future is very likely the same place they found their greatest ever player.
