Javier Pastore Reflects on Argentina's World Cup Journey
Javier Pastore leans back in his chair in Miami, a long way from Paris and even further from the streets of Córdoba where his story began, but his eyes are still fixed on the same stage: the World Cup and the Argentina shirt.
Two generations separate him from Lionel Messi, yet they shared a dressing room with the national team. In Paris, he became a symbol of the early PSG project from 2011 to 2018. Today, “El Flaco” has swapped the number 10 for a suit, acting as the legal representative of Enzo Fernández. At an AFA event in Miami, part of the federation’s global academy push, Pastore spoke with a calm certainty that only comes from having lived it all before.
A World Cup that refuses to follow the script
“I’m watching a very competitive World Cup,” he says. No nostalgia, no exaggeration. Just a simple statement of fact.
Teams that were supposed to be supporting cast have muscled their way into the spotlight. “Teams we weren't expecting much from are putting up a fight,” he notes, clearly enjoying the chaos. Full stadiums, noise everywhere, a global tournament that actually feels global.
He hasn’t missed Argentina’s games. “I’ve experienced all of Argentina’s matches, and I’m very happy with everything I’ve seen from the team.” For someone who knows the pressure of that shirt, the approval is not handed out lightly.
Spain, France… and the dream final
The conversation inevitably drifts toward the endgame. A Spain–Argentina final? The idea makes him pause for a moment.
“It would be a nice opponent,” he admits. But sentiment quickly gives way to analysis. “I think France and Spain are the toughest opponents we could end up facing in a final, so let’s hope we can make it there, because that’s the most important thing.”
No talk of destiny. Just the hard road that still lies ahead.
Enzo Fernández, the chameleon in midfield
If Messi is the old master, Enzo Fernández is the modern engine of this Argentina side. Pastore knows him better than most now, not as a teammate, but as the man who helps guide his career.
“He is well, very positive,” Pastore says of the Chelsea midfielder. “He is having a very good World Cup, in the first two matches he helped the team win comfortably.” The praise is measured, but clear. Enzo hasn’t come to make up the numbers.
His role has evolved rapidly in recent years. “Enzo has changed his position a great deal,” Pastore explains. He has dropped deep, he has attacked the box, he has learned to live in all the spaces that modern football demands.
“With the national team he starts deep,” Pastore continues, “but in the end he is the only midfielder who gets up to the attacking line and stays close to Messi.” That detail matters. In a team built around the captain, Enzo is the one who dares to step into his orbit. “He is a player who adapts very well to any type of position.”
Real Madrid on the horizon?
A player that versatile, that influential, will always attract the biggest names. The word “Madrid” arrives at the table as naturally as the next question.
Do you see him at Real Madrid?
Pastore doesn’t bite on the headline, but he doesn’t dodge the reality either. “Today the player is calmly thinking about the national team, he is playing in a World Cup, he is very close to reaching the round of 16...” The priority is clear. This tournament comes first.
Then he opens the door just a fraction. “He is only thinking about that and we are looking at possibilities to leave Chelsea, but there is nothing firm or confirmed at any club.” No negotiations to announce, no agreement in place. Just the acknowledgement that a move away from London is on the table.
The attraction of Madrid, as a city and as a club, is no secret. “He has many friends there, and he is very close friends with Julián Álvarez, and in the end, whenever they can spend time together, they are together there,” Pastore says. The personal ties are already woven.
“And I also live in Madrid. Every time he traveled, he traveled to see me and to sort out work-related matters, but besides that: who doesn’t like Madrid?” Pastore laughs at the obviousness of it. “I never even played in Madrid... I even live there.” The city has pulled them both in, even without a white shirt involved. For now.
PSG’s new era, seen by one of its first idols
Mention PSG and Pastore’s face still changes. He was there at the start of the Qatari project, the first great statement signing, the elegant No. 10 who helped drag the club into a new era. Now he watches a very different PSG from afar: European champions, stacked with youth, and led by Luis Enrique.
“They have a squad to keep dominating, they are young, they have a lot of ambition to keep winning,” he says. The admiration for the structure is obvious. This is no longer the PSG of experiments and growing pains.
He reserves special praise for the coach. “A coach who has understood the players and the club perfectly at the moment it was in, he has won the Champions League two years in a row, he has truly done incredible things and I think he is going to continue along that path.” Luis Enrique, in Pastore’s eyes, has both the authority and the hunger to keep the team at the top. “Luis Enrique is a coach with tremendous ambition and the club has made everything available to him to keep achieving great things.”
So, would he play for this version of PSG, the one that has finally conquered Europe and looks built to stay there?
The answer comes quickly, with a smile that says he knows exactly what he’s doing.
“No, not even close,” he fires back, laughing.
He has had his time in Paris. Now his influence runs through players like Enzo Fernández, through transfer decisions yet to be made, through a World Cup that could reshape careers in a matter of weeks. The boots are gone. The game, clearly, is not.
