‘They Made Me Feel Like I Was Part of It’ – Sergio Aguero on Argentina’s 2022 World Cup Triumph and Why He Believes Lionel Messi and Co. Are Ready for 2026

Sergio Aguero on Argentina’s 2022 World Cup Triumph, Lionel Messi’s Crowning Glory, and Why He Thinks 2026 Could Still Belong to This Group

There are football triumphs, and then there are the ones that feel like they belong to an entire country.

Argentina’s 2022 World Cup triumph in Qatar was exactly that — not just a trophy lift, not just a long-awaited title after 36 years, but a release of history, pressure, heartbreak and pure emotion. It was the kind of victory that carried generations with it. For millions of Argentinians, it was unforgettable. For Lionel Messi, it was the final piece of the puzzle, the one medal that transformed an already untouchable legacy into something almost mythical.

And for Sergio Aguero, even from the outside looking in, it became one of the most beautiful memories of his life.

That’s what makes his reflections so powerful.

Because Aguero was not officially part of that squad. He had already been forced into retirement a year earlier because of a heart condition, cruelly closing the door on the final chapter many had imagined for him in sky blue and white. There was no tournament run, no minutes on the pitch, no chance to physically help Argentina get over the line in Qatar.

And yet, when the moment came, when Messi finally climbed the summit and Argentina reclaimed the crown of world football, Aguero still found himself right there in the emotional center of it all.

Not by accident.

Not by nostalgia.

But because the players, the staff, and especially the friendships built over years of pain and near-misses made sure he was still included.

That image of Aguero carrying Messi on his shoulders after the final became one of the enduring visuals of the celebrations — joyful, messy, emotional, and completely authentic. It looked like what it was: not a staged photo opportunity, but a brotherhood making room for one of its own.

Now, as Argentina prepare to defend their title at the 2026 World Cup, Aguero has opened up again — not only about what Qatar meant to him and to the country, but also about why he believes Lionel Messi and Co. are ready for 2026.

And if you listen carefully, what he’s really saying is this:

The trophy was not the end of a story.

It may have been the start of a new one.

‘They made me feel like I was part of it’ – Sergio Aguero on Argentina’s 2022 World Cup triumph

If there is one line that captures the emotion of Sergio Aguero’s view of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup triumph, it is the one in the headline:

“They made me feel like I was part of it.”

Simple words, but they hit hard.

Because Aguero had every reason to feel bittersweet about Qatar. He had spent years serving Argentina, delivering goals, living through tournament disappointments, and standing shoulder to shoulder with Lionel Messi during some of the most painful near-misses in the modern history of the national team. Finals lost. Expectations crushed. Criticism amplified. That generation took a lot of hits before finally getting their reward.

And then, just before the greatest reward of all, Aguero’s body took the choice away from him.

A heart issue forced him into retirement in 2021. It was sudden, cruel, and deeply unfair in the football sense. For a player who had given so much to clubs like Atletico Madrid and Manchester City, and to Argentina itself, the idea that he would miss the World Cup entirely felt like one of those storylines sport writes without mercy.

But that’s not how Aguero chooses to remember it.

He has spoken with gratitude rather than regret, and that says a lot about the atmosphere Lionel Scaloni and the squad built around that team. Aguero made it clear that the group didn’t just win for themselves. They carried others with them — former teammates, players who helped in earlier stages of the cycle, and those who, for different reasons, could not be there when the final chapter was written.

That’s a rare thing in elite sport.

Winning squads can become exclusive very quickly. They can turn inward. They can protect the people who made the final cut and unintentionally erase those who helped lay the groundwork. But Aguero’s words suggest the opposite happened with Argentina.

The 2022 champions widened the circle.

And that may be one of the biggest reasons the team felt so loved beyond just the football.

Lionel Messi finally got his crowning moment — and Argentina got the ending it had waited 36 years for

No conversation about Argentina’s 2022 World Cup triumph can avoid the obvious centerpiece.

This was Lionel Messi’s coronation.

Not because he needed a World Cup to become a great player — that debate was already over long before Qatar — but because football is emotional, unfair, and often obsessed with symbols. For years, the one thing critics held over Messi was the one thing he could not control on his own: the absence of a World Cup title with Argentina.

He had come close before.

Painfully close.

The scars of 2014 still lingered for many. So did the defeats in other finals. Each one added pressure. Each one made the weight heavier. Each one fed the idea that he was somehow still incomplete in the eyes of those who reduce greatness to a single trophy.

Then came Qatar.

And suddenly, all the noise disappeared.

Messi didn’t just win the World Cup — he did it in a tournament where he felt central to everything. He led, he scored, he created, he carried emotional authority, and he looked like a man fully at peace with the team around him. It was not the lonely Messi of earlier years, dragging impossible expectations on his back. It was a leader inside a collective that understood him, protected him, and amplified him.

That’s part of what Aguero seems to cherish most.

Not only that Messi won, but how he won.

With a group that reflected something deeply Argentine.

With players who fought.

With players who suffered.

With players who played with personality rather than fear.

Aguero described it as a style, a spirit, and an identity that felt unmistakably their own. That matters because it turns the triumph into something bigger than one player’s legacy. It becomes cultural. It becomes generational. It becomes a team people feel represented by, not just impressed by.

And that’s why the final itself still resonates so strongly.

Many already call it the greatest World Cup final ever played.

Honestly, it’s hard to argue.

Sergio Aguero says the 2022 celebrations remain one of the most beautiful memories of his life

There are moments in football that age well because they feel real.

The celebrations after Argentina’s World Cup win in 2022 were one of those moments.

They were chaotic, emotional, slightly wild, and full of those unscripted images that only happen when a team has genuinely suffered together before finally reaching the top. You could see it in the tears, in the embraces, in the way players looked at Messi, and in the way Messi looked back at them.

And right in the middle of all that, there was Sergio Aguero.

That is what gives his memories extra weight.

He wasn’t there as a former player politely invited to join a photo. He was there as part of the emotional fabric of that group. He belonged. And he clearly still feels that deeply.

Aguero has said he will never stop being grateful that the team allowed him to share in those celebrations. That phrase matters. It reveals something vulnerable. It suggests he knows he was physically absent from the road to the trophy, yet emotionally included in the destination. That kind of generosity from teammates is not always guaranteed in top-level sport.

But this Argentina side has often felt different in that way.

There has been a looseness to them, a family energy, a feeling that the bond inside the squad matters almost as much as the tactical shape on the pitch. That is not sentimental nonsense either — in tournament football, it matters. The best teams are not always the most individually gifted. Sometimes they are the ones most willing to suffer for each other.

Aguero’s comments reinforce that image.

And if you’re looking for clues about why Argentina still believe they can compete again in 2026, this is one of them.

The chemistry didn’t vanish when the confetti settled.

Why Sergio Aguero believes Lionel Messi and Co. are ready for the 2026 World Cup

Defending a World Cup is never easy.

In fact, for reigning champions, it can be one of the hardest tasks in football. The emotional peak is so high, the memories so perfect, that it becomes difficult to know when to refresh the squad, when to trust the veterans, and when to let go of the heroes who got you there. Plenty of champions get caught in that trap. They stay loyal too long, move too late, or lose the edge that made them special.

Sergio Aguero doesn’t think Argentina are falling into that danger.

And that’s a really interesting point.

He believes Lionel Scaloni has handled the transition smartly — not by tearing up the core of the Qatar side, but by preserving the spirit of it while gradually bringing in players who understand what the shirt means. That balance is everything in international football.

Keep too many old names, and the team can go stale.

Change too much too quickly, and you lose identity.

Scaloni, in Aguero’s view, is trying to avoid both mistakes.

Yes, some major figures from the 2022 run will naturally no longer be there in the same way. Angel Di Maria, for example, leaves a huge emotional and tactical gap. You don’t replace a player like that with a carbon copy. But Argentina’s coaching staff appear to understand that succession is not always about finding the same player. Sometimes it’s about redistributing qualities across the group.

That’s where the newer generation becomes so important.

Players like Enzo Fernandez and Julian Alvarez are no longer just promising supporting acts. They have lived the experience of winning a World Cup while still being young enough to carry that energy into the next cycle. That matters enormously. They know what it takes, but they still have the hunger of players who want to define the next era, not just protect the last one.

And then there are the fresher faces.

The next Argentina generation gives 2026 real hope beyond Lionel Messi

One of the healthiest signs for Argentina heading toward 2026 is that the conversation is no longer only about Lionel Messi.

Of course Messi remains the emotional center of everything. If he goes, he goes as a legend still capable of tilting matches with one pass, one touch, one shift of tempo. If he doesn’t, the aura of the 2022 triumph still lingers because so many of the players around him were shaped by that experience.

But the important thing is this: Argentina are no longer dependent on nostalgia alone.

That’s huge.

Nicolas Otamendi and Rodrigo De Paul still represent continuity, edge, and leadership. Those kinds of tournament veterans matter more than many people realise. They help control dressing rooms, protect younger players, and preserve standards. But the team also now has young talents who are arriving with genuine ambition rather than just admiration.

Names like Nico Paz, Franco Mastantuono, and Giuliano Simeone bring something every champion eventually needs: fresh emotional hunger.

They don’t carry the scars of the older generation in the same way.

They grew up watching the near-misses, yes, but they are entering a squad that already knows how to win.

That changes the psychology completely.

Instead of arriving to fix something broken, they arrive to defend something precious.

And if they are smart, they will absorb the best habits of the core group quickly.

That is exactly what Aguero seems to trust.

He believes the veterans will be responsible for passing on that passion, that obsession with the shirt, that sense of what it means to represent Argentina. If that handover happens smoothly, then 2026 becomes more than a ceremonial title defence. It becomes a real football mission.

Lionel Messi’s impact in the U.S., Mexico and Canada makes the 2026 World Cup feel even more personal

There’s another layer to all of this that makes 2026 especially fascinating.

The next World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and that matters because Lionel Messi is no longer just a global icon passing through North America. He has become part of the football landscape there.

Since arriving in MLS, Messi has changed the temperature of the league.

That’s not hype anymore. It’s reality.

Attendance spikes, packed stadiums, global attention, commercial lift, and a sense that Inter Miami became a completely different kind of club the moment he arrived. Aguero sees that clearly, and he’s not exaggerating when he says there is a before and after in MLS because of Messi.

He’s right.

Messi didn’t just bring his name. He brought legitimacy, urgency, and international focus. He made casual observers care. He made existing fans feel the league had stepped into a new era. Whether people love MLS or dismiss it, they can’t deny the scale of the shift.

And because of that, the 2026 tournament almost feels like it was made for one final North American chapter in Messi’s international story.

That doesn’t guarantee anything.

It doesn’t mean he will dominate.

It doesn’t even officially confirm he’ll be there.

But if he is, the emotional weight will be enormous.

A World Cup across three countries where he already has real influence, real visibility, and real connection with fans? That is a compelling stage for a reigning champion trying to write one more chapter.

Sergio Aguero’s belief in Argentina for 2026 feels less like nostalgia — and more like trust in what this team still is

The easiest thing in football would be to dismiss all this as sentiment.

To say Sergio Aguero is simply speaking like a former teammate, a close friend of Messi, and a proud Argentine reliving the happiest memory of his football life.

And sure, some of that is naturally there.

But if you read between the lines, his belief in Argentina for 2026 feels more grounded than romantic.

He’s not saying they will win because they won before.

He’s saying they still have the right ingredients.

The spirit.

The identity.

The core group.

The right manager.

The right blend of experience and youth.

The understanding of what it means to wear that shirt.

That’s not empty patriotism. That’s actually a solid tournament blueprint.

Will it be easy? Of course not.

Defending champions are hunted.

Opponents prepare for them differently.

The emotional surprise is gone.

Every weakness gets studied harder.

But if there is one thing this Argentina side has shown under Scaloni, it’s that they are more than a one-tournament story. They don’t feel like a lucky champion that peaked at the right moment. They feel like a proper football culture built around clarity, sacrifice, and a very Argentine stubbornness.

And maybe that’s why Aguero sounds so convinced.

Because from his point of view, the best thing about Qatar wasn’t just the trophy.

It was the way the team won it.

That kind of identity can survive longer than people think.

‘They made me feel like I was part of it’ — and Argentina may not be done yet

In the end, Sergio Aguero’s reflections on Argentina’s 2022 World Cup triumph hit so hard because they come from a place of genuine emotion.

He wasn’t on the pitch.

He wasn’t in the squad.

He didn’t get the official medal journey he deserved as a player.

And yet, when the moment came, the team made sure he still felt included.

“They made me feel like I was part of it.”

That says everything about that Argentina group.

It says everything about Lionel Messi.

And maybe, in a quieter way, it says something important about 2026 too.

Because teams that win with that kind of bond don’t always fade as quickly as people expect.

If Scaloni keeps the core intact, if the younger players absorb the old fire, if Messi is still there in some meaningful role, and if the hunger remains sharper than the comfort of being champions, then Argentina won’t arrive at the next World Cup as a nostalgia act.

They’ll arrive as something much more dangerous.

A champion that still believes.

And if that happens, don’t be surprised if Sergio Aguero ends up feeling part of it all over again.