To say that Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup victory means a lot to the South American country would be the understatement of the decade, following wild scenes on the streets during the final and hundreds of thousands of fans gathering to celebrate the team’s return home. It means so much, in fact, that Argentina’s Central Bank is reportedly considering a 1000-peso bill with Messi’s face on it.
Despite the 2022 edition being 35-year-old Messi’s fifth World Cup campaign, he put on the performance of his life, netting seven goals this year and bringing his World Cup total up to 13 goals from 26 appearances (that’s right, he only scored six times in his previous four World Cups). In his debut World Cup appearance, Argentinians were offered a glimpse of his potential after providing an assist after just 13 minutes on the field, before scoring himself on the way to a 6-0 victory over Serbia.
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To commemorate Argentina’s first World Cup victory since the Diego Maradona-led campaign in 1986, members of the Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina are understood to have jokingly discussed the idea of minting a fresh bill with Messi on it, as reported by the Mexican financial newspaper El Financiero. It might sound far-fetched, but the BCRA has many members who are die-hard soccer fans, including Lisandro Cleri and Eduardo Hecker who agreed that such a note would unite Argentinians everywhere.
While the idea hasn’t been confirmed yet, there is the precedent of the BCRA issuing commemorative coins when Argentina won its first World Cup in 1978, so there’s hope yet. A commemorative coin would be a moment to celebrate, however, the preferred option is the 1000-peso note as a reference to the number 10 that Messi wears on his jersey.
