Arsenal vs Brighton changed the history of Lionel Messi and Argentina as Neal Maupay woke up World Cup star Emi Martinez

If Argentina beat France to win the World Cup on Sunday, Neal Maupay might feel guilty.

Not that the Paris-born Everton striker had a direct impact on his national team, which featured just one young player, but his world-class home runs could come back to bite.

A lot has changed since Maupay’s stoppage-time winner as Brighton beat Arsenal 2-1 in June 2020, but it’s fair to say that without the first domino to fall Lionel Messi may not have had his second shot at a World Cup Cup.

Not only have the fans returned since that game behind closed doors to deliver a very different football experience, but Arsenal have clearly emerged from their so-called ‘banter era’ to dominate the Premier League.

Back then, just over two years ago, Matteo Guendouzi, Sead Kolasinac and Shkodran Mustafi still proved to be underdogs as Mikel Arteta tried to rebuild.

And to add to their misery, Maupay has the Gunners on his little finger after scoring a late winner in their previous meeting at the Emirates.

This time, however, it wasn’t just the goals that made him North London’s No.1 enemy, but his digs as he pressed forward saw Bernd Leno leave the field sprawled.

Challenging the German for a high ball, with no intention of getting it, Maupay’s intervention saw Leno sent off after a nasty fall in the 40th minute.

Goals from Nicolas Pepe and Lewis Dunk followed before the Frenchman’s late winner, which was met by Guendouzi choking him and a full-time shoving match.

Maupay had the last laugh at three points, but a monster was accidentally awakened.

You wouldn’t know that Emi Martinez was at fault for both of the Seagulls’ comeback goals that day, but the Argentine leaned into that game to an alarming degree.

After a career at Arsenal that consisted almost exclusively of loans from 2011 to 2019, or even as far as Oxford in League 2, Martinez finally got his chance with the Gunners, and took it.

The shot-stopper went on to make 23 appearances that season, more than in his previous eight years combined, and broke into tears as his heroics saw the Gunners claim the FA Cup to end the campaign, Martinez proved vital as he lifted the first major trophy of his career.

His displays were so impressive that Martinez won a £20m move to Aston Villa in the following months, and his continued impressiveness caught the eye of his country.

Argentina’s performances in tournaments for most of the modern era have been dogged by goalkeepers nowhere near the level of their world-class attack, but now they have.

Martinez played a key role in helping his team to the final in Qatar, and was an absolute monster as he filled the net in the quarter-final win over the Netherlands.

With the Copa America crown to his name last summer, Martinez has already bettered many of his predecessors in goal and has the chance to add the Holy Grail in Qatar.

If he succeeds, he may have to fend off a familiar face in Frenchman Guendouzi, who could once again blame his compatriot Maupay.