BUENOS AIRES — Argentinian football fans filling the bars in Buenos Aires on Monday were able to celebrate iconic World Cup moments by two vastly different characters – Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.

For the late tortured genius that was Maradona it was the 40th anniversary of his ‘Hand of God’ goal in the 1986 quarter-final with England, on his way to almost single-handedly winning the trophy for Argentina.

For the clean-cut Messi it was another record – his double against Austria at the 2026 tournament on Monday that made him the all-time World Cup goal scorer with 18.

Maradona, despite his excesses off the pitch and his failed doping test in the 1994 World Cup, remains a hero to many.

It’s fair to say controversy and Messi are not often mentioned in the same breath – reverence for him is confined to his successes on the pitch.

“Maradona came from the working classes and brought a lot of happiness to these people who can only dream of certain pleasures others can afford,” Fernando Rollan, 38, told AFP.

“Messi on the other hand belongs to another generation. But I love him!”

It is hard to miss images of Messi in Buenos Aires – he adorns the iconic Obelisco de Buenos Aires and in the city of Neuquen, in the province of Patagonia, there is a 26-metre high statue of him.