Right now, it's Kylian Mbappé. Both he and Messi feel uniquely unsolvable and can bend games to their will.
But I'll take the younger man in the eighth game of a six-week slog.
There's a transcendental quality around Argentina, where Messi's mere presence is enough to get any of his teammates to produce the best moment of their international careers when it's needed.
And he's still pretty good at his own part, too.
Gotta be Messi. Even at his geriatric age, he hasn't lost the ability to decide matches in a moment.
He really wasn't much of a factor for most of the proceedings against Egypt in the last 16 and, then, boom, there he was with the splendid half-volley.
Can I fudge this and say it depends what kind of chance? If it's a penalty or a header, not Messi, otherwise definitely him.
He gives that sense he is playing the game at a different pace to everybody else: quite apart from his technical ability, what sets him apart is his capacity to take the least difficult option to achieve the desired result in any circumstance.
Team most missed from the quarter-finals
While it was sad to see all three host nations eliminated in the last 16, Japan were a lot of people's dark horses before the tournament and they showed why in a thrilling opening game against the Netherlands before bowing out after giving Brazil a scare in the last 32.
With a more favourable draw, they would have been contenders for the last eight.
