JEFF POWELL MBE: Why unapologetic imposter Lionel Messi is now not even in the top five players of all time - and will forever be tainted as the leader of Argentina's brutes in ugliest World Cup final ever

An image of the real greatest footballer of all time flickered briefly across the stadium with no proper name before the team captained by the imposter to that throne desecrated his beautiful game.

Pele

, from wherever he was watching, will have been as tortured as the rest of us by the ghastly possibility of Argentina slithering to World Cup victory on penalties after kicking more Spaniards than they did footballs.

Brazil’s maestro of the most glorious football ever played, along with hundreds of millions of us who love this game, was spared that obscenity by a solitary goal scored by a Spanish substitute in extra time.

Nor will Pele have been as forgiving of

Lionel Messi

’s part in that looming travesty as all those who have casually mis-proclaimed their darling little Leo as the most talented player ever to walk God’s hallowed turf. With the emphasis on walk.

And neither will he have been impressed by the armbanded standard-bearer for the ugliest losers in World Cup history. Especially not as Messi sat shedding tears for his men’s brutish failure to defend their championship. Instead of crying for Argentina and himself, he should have wept for the infamy of the team under his charge.

From Messi there has not been one syllable of apology for the thuggery which ruined the principal showpiece for the game which has enriched him beyond Croesus. Not one word of regret for his disgruntled brethren instigating the brawl which disgraced their hour of defeat. No hint of recognition for reducing this nasty, tedious game to the bottom of the list of the 13 World Cup finals which have come under my scrutiny.

Messi shed tears for his men’s brutish failure to defend their championship. Instead of crying for Argentina and himself, he should have wept for the infamy of the team under his charge

No hint of recognition for reducing this nasty, tedious game to the bottom of the list of the 13 World Cup finals which have come under my scrutiny

To think, furthermore, that I was once seduced by his natural-born skills into elevating Messi to third in my ranking of the best in the anthology of football. We all make mistakes.

Those revised rankings accompany this verdict on FIFA’s elongated tournament of mixed blessings. Along with little Leo clinging on to a place in my forever best world Xl. Just about. Although he was on the brink of deletion at the end of Sunday’s final to which his only contribution was to lob a hopeful cross-*-shot onto the roof of the Spanish goal netting.

That carefully curated image was not helped, either, by Messi doing precious little in the semi-final before Thomas Tuchel sounded England’s retreat into suicidal defence of a one-goal lead.

A lot of reputations were damaged in this ever-lasting tournament. To suggest that Tuchel should escape the hardest judgement because England won a 10-goal so-called thriller against France in that spurious run-out for third place only handicaps any hope of recovery.

That was a Mickey Mouse coconut shy of a match which France threw away by not turning up for the first half, although they partially redeemed themselves by running riot through Tuchel’s wonky England defence after the interval. Also exposed was this manager’s stubbornness in not selecting England’s most exciting player, Bukayo Saka, before they were knocked out. Even though the Arsenal forward had declared himself fully fit.

With the FA further hog-tied after rushing an extension of Tuchel’s contract to the home Euros two years from now, they are condemning England to stagnation. As Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, especially Italy and Spain as well as Argentina begin a four-year recycling programme of head coaches as well as players towards the next World Cup, so England will lag two years behind.

Trapped in their Tuchel syndrome. If it carries on like this, stand by for another 60 years of depression.

Ominously, also, the gap is closing fast between the old-guard masters of Europe and South America and the uprising of African, Asian and Caribbean football. Witness Morocco, Egypt, Cape Verde, Senegal, Ivory Coast, DR Congo and Curacao coming close to springing a mass upset here.

To think that I was once seduced by his natural-born skills into elevating Messi to third in my ranking of the best in the anthology of football. We all make mistakes

DR Congo came ever so close to causing a huge upset against England in the last 32

Pele had predicted the time was fast approaching when an African team would win the World Cup. This is coming closer and closer as more and more talents from the continent garner experience in the major European leagues. The greatest one’s forecast is not beyond realisation in 2030, even though Spain in their dedicated and organised development of a winning style of football will again be the team to beat. Especially since they will be co-hosts.

Meanwhile this country of ours which gave the greatest of all games to the world trundles along, with the blinkered moguls of the Premier League at the wheel. Even as their clubs splurge hundreds of millions of pounds on domestic players of limited promise. If England learned one thing from this tournament, it is that the likes of Morgan Rogers, Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice are not worth nine-figure fees. Not close.

If the Premier League was taught one lesson, it is that the UFC cage-wrestling with which Arsenal won the title last season will no longer be tolerated by referees. It is an ill World Cup wind which brings no such consolations.

Although 2026 in all its expansionist corporate greed, half-time grovelling to yawn-inducing musical celebrities and suspicions of favouritism has come close to bringing down the Infantino empire. As well as England.