Fox
While Zlatan Ibrahimovic was one of the most technically gifted players of his generation, as a public personality, he really only has one move: otherworldly ego. There appears to be one thing on this Earth, however, that gets Zlatan to put that bravado to the side: Lionel Messi.
As he was discussing Lionel Messi’s two-goal performance against Austria on Monday — giving him five goals at the 2026 World Cup and 18 all-time, the most in the history of the competition — Zlatan Ibrahimovic put his mask of arrogance to the side for a moment in favor of self-deprecating humor.
Zlatan : “Messi is something else , he has 5 goals in two games already, I have 0 goals in 2 world cups” fairs🤣 pic.twitter.com/cmEuRDyo3s
— Ankur (@AnkurMessi_) June 22, 2026
Soccer fans have noticed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic puts aside his trademark bravado when discussing the greatness of Lionel Messi
Messi now has five goals in two games at the 2026 World Cup. As Zlatan noted, he had zero goals in TWO separate World Cups. Even for a player considered to be one of the best of his generation, Zlatan knows that Messi is simply on another level.
One of my favourite things is Zlatan dropping the “I’m God” gimmick any time he speaks about Messi lolll he knows https://t.co/31VGykTw2c
— m 🇦🇷🇪🇸 (@MkndFCB) June 23, 2026
Crying he only drops the arrogant lion gimmick to glaze Messi https://t.co/DWup8PhuOg
— OGi 🐐 (@BCNOgi) June 23, 2026
The only time Zlatan is humble is when he speaks about Messi
— Ped (@PedTalksSports) June 22, 2026
Argentina entered the 2026 World Cup as the defending champions and look as though they have the potential to win back-to-back, especially if Messi keeps playing at this level. Should Argentina follow up their 2022 World Cup title with another in 2026, they’ll become just the third nation to win back-to-back World Cup titles alongside Italy in 1934 and 1938, and Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
Argentina’s third and final group stage game will come against Jordan on Saturday, June 27 at 10 p.m. EST. Even if they were to somehow lose to Jordan on Matchday 3, they’d likely still win Group J on goal differential, as they’re five clear of second-place Austria and seven ahead of third-place Algeria.