Spain vs Argentina: New Lionel Messi stat suggests maestro has been underpriced in key World Cup final market

The 2026 World Cup final will take place on Sunday, and it's a clash for the ages as Spain face Argentina in what will be their first competitive meeting in more than 50 years.

The match is being dressed up as a clash of styles, with Spain's elegance looking to overcome Argentina's ruggedness.

Ironically, the most elegant player to have ever lived, Lionel Messi, will line up for Argentina on Sunday night, and despite his obvious brilliance, have the bookies made a blunder on his price to register an assist during the match?

Will Messi register an assist during the World Cup final?

Throughout his career, the tale of Messi being almost forgotten about as the best playmaker in the world has been a common theme. The reason? His goalscoring numbers have always been off the charts.

The same thing has happened during the 2026 World Cup. Yes, Messi has scored eight goals in seven appearances for Argentina this summer, but he has also registered four assists, a figure bettered only by Michael Olise.

Messi has been priced at 3/1 by Bet365 to register an assist on Sunday, which is an implied probability of 25%. However, the 39-year-old has registered at least one assist in each of his last three World Cup matches, setting up four goals for his teammates in that time frame.

His two assists for Argentina in the semi-final against England were indicative of the man. As England dropped deeper, Messi took over, picking up the ball in deeper areas, before using his wand of a left foot to whip wicked deliveries into the box.

A man capable of playing anywhere

As the tournament has progressed, Messi has gone from Argentina's main goalscorer to their main creator, and there is no reason to believe that will change against Spain. If anything, his average position is only likely to become deeper due to Spain's ability to hold onto the ball for long periods.

While Messi isn't going to get involved in harassing Rodri and Ruiz, he is perfectly capable of dictating a football match from deep himself, just as we saw against England.

His passing ability is second to none, while we also saw just how good his crossing can be in the semi-finals.

What's also interesting is that his four assists at the World Cup have all been to different players (Romero, Mac Allister, Fernandez and Martinez), so Spain will have to be wary of passing routes to just about anyone in a blue and white shirt.