Greatness needs a system to express itself fully, argues JOSHUA J. OMOJUWA
Let us start with Lionel Messi. There is a scene from the 2026 World Cup: approaching his 39th birthday, playing in his record sixth edition, at a tournament where he was expected to relinquish his crown to the next generation, Messi scored a hat-trick against Algeria in the opening group game to equal Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals. He then scored twice against Austria to break it outright, becoming the highest scorer in the history of the World Cup with 18 goals and counting. At almost 39, carrying personal weight, on the world’s biggest stage, he has scored five goals in three games.
This is a story about what a properly built system does to talent. Argentina gave Messi a structure, a coaching philosophy, a settled squad, a culture of tournament preparation, that allowed him to still be this, at this age, in this moment. You do not get Messi at the 2026 World Cup breaking records without the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 World Cup, the decade of institutional investment in the Argentine national team setup that preceded both. Greatness needs a system to express itself fully. Without the system, greatness gets wasted.
