Following Lionel Messi’s historic masterclass against Austria at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, England and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney’s iconic post from 14 years ago has resurfaced online, sending fans into an absolute frenzy.The year was 2012, and Messi at his peak had just scored an incredible five goals in Barcelona’s Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen. Watching the magic unfold, Wayne Rooney was so awestruck that he announced the obvious on his X (formerly Twitter) account.“Messi is a joke. To me he is the best ever,” Rooney posted on March 7, 2012.Fast forward 14 years to Dallas, and those words have aged like the best wine. On Monday night, the 38-year-old Argentine magician once again showed the world why Rooney’s prediction from a decade ago was correct. Messi scored twice and led the defending champion Argentina to an easy 2-0 victory over Austria and officially advanced to the top 32.More importantly, two goals pushed Messi to the top of football history. He scored an unprecedented 18 goals in his World Cup career, officially breaking the long-standing men’s record of 16 goals held by German Miroslav Klose and becoming the well-deserved top scorer in World Cup history.As soon as the final whistle blew in Dallas, fans dug out Rooney’s old posts from their archives. The tweet quickly went viral again, attracting millions of new likes, shares and comments from fans, echoing the same sentiment.For more than a decade, Rooney has maintained his position in the never-ending Greatest of All Time (GOAT) debate, often placing the Argentinian ahead of his former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2026, Messi still dominates the biggest stages and football lovers loudly remind the world that Rooney was the first to shout it.
