Lionel Messi's swivel past Josko Gvardiol against Croatia begs the question about whether sporting moments such as those are the highest form of utopia possible.

Football, in essence, is a state of utopia because it doesn't serve a larger worldly purpose. It does not bring about world peace and it does not bring a cure for a disease. It exists in a different world where all that matters is the art in a skill move or the pointlessness of repeating the same thing on a seasonal basis and coming back to it every season.

If football is a sense of utopia, skills like the one Messi executed might be a very high form of utopia.