Sir Alex Ferguson has officially settled the Lionel Messi vs Diego Maradona debate

Argentina’s dream of back-to-back World Cup titles ended in heartbreak as Spain edged out Lionel Messi’s side 1-0 in New Jersey to be crowned world champions.

It brought the curtain down – quite possibly for good – on Messi’s extraordinary international career, and while the result didn’t go Argentina’s way, the 39-year-old still leaves the tournament with his legacy further cemented.

Messi finished the 2026 edition with 8 goals and 4 assists, second only to Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot race and just behind the tournament’s assist leaders, despite being kept relatively quiet in the final itself.

It extends his all-time World Cup record to 21 goals and 12 assists across six tournaments – a combined 33 goal contributions that no player in the competition’s history has come close to matching.

That kind of longevity will only add fuel to the debate over where Messi ranks among the greatest of all time, a conversation that will rumble on for decades regardless of Sunday’s result.

Some will still point to Pele’s three World Cup wins. Others will argue Diego Maradona’s peak surpasses anything they’ve ever seen, while Steven Gerrard even claimed Ronaldinho was a tougher opponent than both Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sir Alex Ferguson gives verdict on Messi vs Maradona debate

But we already know where Sir Alex Ferguson stands on the Messi vs Maradona question.

The debate resurfaced back in 2019, following the death of revered Scottish football writer Hugh McIlvanney, when it emerged that he and Graeme Souness had clashed repeatedly over the exact same question.

According to a piece written by The Times’ Jonathan Northcroft after McIlvanney’s passing, the veteran journalist was adamant that Maradona was the superior of the two, while Souness pushed back hard in Messi’s favour.

When word of the standoff reached Ferguson, he backed Souness’s stance over McIlvanney’s, explaining that Maradona’s career at the very top was only a few years – a nod to Messi’s remarkable staying power compared to the shorter peak enjoyed by his Argentine predecessor.

Given that Messi has since gone on to win a World Cup, two Copa Americas and extend his numbers even further at 39 years old, it’s hard to imagine Ferguson’s verdict has shifted since.

Whether it’s Maradona’s individual brilliance in 1986 or Messi’s sustained excellence stretched across two decades and six World Cups, the debate ultimately comes down to what each individual fan values most in a player.

Ferguson’s answer leans firmly toward longevity and consistency at the very top – traits Messi has continued to demonstrate well into his late thirties, culminating in Sunday’s final appearance on the biggest stage in the sport.

Maradona’s genius, by contrast, is often remembered in flashes: a single tournament, a handful of unforgettable moments, rather than years of accumulated dominance.

Both arguments have merit, and neither side is likely to convince the other any time soon. But with Messi’s career now almost certainly complete at international level, the numbers he leaves behind make his case as compelling as it’s ever been.

Three international titles, an all-time record for World Cup goal contributions and a body of work that stretches from a teenage prodigy to a 39-year-old still inspiring a cup final run two decades later.

It’s an argument that Maradona, or anyone else for that matter, simply can no longer match.