Lionel Messi's "World Cup Triumph" is a triumph - an early glimpse

Lionel Messi's World Cup Triumph by Chris Barish and illustrated by Nate Sweitzer (Abrams, 2026) is a wonderful graphic novel that I'm really excited about (and I'm not a huge soccer/ World Cup fan). It will be available for purchase on March 17th, 2026 and I highly recommend it.

World Cup Triumph is a tantilizing read full of history, fun, silly and amazing facts, and the story of Soccer's World Cup. Well written (even though facts and mini trivia quizzes are interspersed within the World Cup narrative), it is a fascinating, beautifully presented story that is hard to put down. Furthermore, the graphic design is spectacular and makes the reading an absolute pleasure.

This graphic novel follows the story of soccer great, Liionel Messi who despite many awards and accolades, longs to win the World Cup for his team and country (Argentina). The book starts with a history of soccer and soccer greats from Maradona to Mbappe who built soccer and the World Cup into what it is today. Interspersed in this story are some nail-biting victories, backstories, historical perspectives and soccer trivia. Did you know, for example, that during a penalty kick in the 1938 semifinals, an Italian player kicked the ball so hard that his pants dropped to his knees as he made the goal! On a totally different note, did you know that during World War I soldiers interrupted fighting to have a soccer game? Guns were dropped and soldiers came out of their trenches to play.

This graphic novel is written so well and is so fascinating that even when the story is interrupted with trivia or historical perspectives, all is welcome. For example, we learn about the twisted history of the World Cup Trophy - how it was hidden from the Nazis who tried to steal it, and then how it was actually stolen from a British museum in 1966, was later found, and then stolen again in 1983 never to be found. A newer version was minted and is still used today.

Finally, a word about the graphic design... it's brilliant. The pages are so well and so creatively organized it is an absolute pleasure to read. The authors make it clear when we're taken back for historical perspective and when we're neck deep in action. The graphic design makes this a remarkable pleasant romp and read.

Teaching ideas: As this is a work of non-fiction, there are a lot of ways this can be used in a classroom.

• Students can research and report about the historical elements throughout the book from biographies of key players to the history of the trophy itself.

• They can research what happened to the games during various world events (such as World Wars I and II).

• Students can break into teams and have a contest or debate on who really was the greatest soccer player and why.

• Students can create their own trivia games by doing more research or simply taking trivia facts from this book.

In sum, I strongly recommend this book for all readers. It's brilliantly done and will be enjoyed by fans and non-fans alike.

That's it for now. I hope you found this helpful. Please come back once this book is out and leave your own ideas and teaching suggestions in the comments.

As always, thanks for the visit.