India, July 20 -- For the man who had conjured magic throughout this World Cup, carrying Argentina through one knockout battle after another, as he has done countless times in his glittering career, the biggest night of them all ended in silence. Lionel Messi was subdued. Argentina fell.

A decade ago, Messi walked out of MetLife Stadium in New York convinced his international career was over. The heartbreak of losing the 2016 Copa America final to Chile, two years after Argentina's World Cup final defeat to Germany, left him shattered. "It's over," he had said.

Less than two months later, he reversed his retirement. What followed became the greatest chapter of his international career: two Copa America titles and, finally, the World Cup...