When Lionel Messi steps off the pitch for the final time at a World Cup — and that moment is now, at most, three games away — the world will rightly mourn the end of an era. But standing right beside him, ready to carry what comes next, is Julián Álvarez. And if you want to understand why Argentina believe they can win this tournament, understanding what Álvarez brings is the place to start.
The twenty-four-year-old striker scored in Argentina's quarter-final victory over Switzerland — a 3-1 win that sent La Albiceleste into the last four with a performance that was equal parts controlled and clinical. He has been a constant threat throughout this tournament, finishing calmly when chances arrive and pressing relentlessly when they do not. He is, in many ways, the football player that Didier Deschamps wishes he could design in a laboratory: relentless, intelligent, physically robust, and technically sharp enough to play in the tightest of spaces.
From Rosario to the World Stage
Álvarez's story has a familiar Argentine quality to it. He grew up in Calchín, a small town in the province of Córdoba, and worked his way up through River Plate's academy system to become one of South America's most coveted attacking talents. His move to Manchester City in 2022 accelerated his development in ways that might not have happened had he stayed in Argentina — training daily alongside Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, and a generation of City players defined by Pep Guardiola's demand for positional and technical perfection.
The Premier League has sharpened every part of his game. He is better at holding the ball under pressure than he was. His movement in behind defences is more varied and harder to track. And his finishing, which was already good, has developed a composure that comes specifically from playing in matches where every error is analysed and every opportunity is expected to be taken.
The Man City Graduate Who Came Good
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Álvarez announced himself to the world with three goals including a stunning individual effort against Croatia in the semi-finals. He was twenty-two years old and already behaving like a player who had been doing this for a decade. Four years on, he is more experienced, more confident, and playing in a stronger Argentina team that has grown around the experience of that Qatar triumph.
Playing alongside Messi at international level has given him a football education that money cannot buy. He understands the space that Messi vacates when he drops deep to collect the ball — and he has learned to attack that space with purpose. Their partnership has a natural geometry to it, one that only develops through genuine familiarity and respect between two players who understand each other's strengths intuitively.
England's Defensive Headache
For England's defenders, Álvarez represents a specific kind of problem. He does not play like a traditional number nine who stations himself in the box and waits. He drops, he moves wide, he links play, and then he reappears in dangerous positions when you least expect it. Tracking him requires a centre-back to follow him out of position — which in turn creates the space for Messi, or Lautaro Martínez, to exploit.
The semi-final against England on July 15 in Atlanta will be a test of whether Gareth Southgate's — or rather his successor's — defensive organisation can contain the kind of intelligent, constantly moving attacking unit that Argentina present. Álvarez will be central to everything they try to do going forward.
He is twenty-four years old, at the peak of his physical powers, with a World Cup winner's medal already in his pocket and the hunger to add another. England have been warned.
Sources: Sky Sports, ESPN, BBC Sport, FIFA.com
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