“VAMOS VAMOS ARGENTINA!!”

Sang the whole stadium of Lusail. Even the supporters of France could do nothing but join in the celebrations, as they witnessed Lionel Messi lift the World Cup for the first time. The seven-time ballon d or winner has won every tournament that he had ever played in, he has won it all!!

This fact alone should be enough to make him the Greatest of All Time. But today, we are not here to silence the haters, but to celebrate the career, the trophies, the broken records, the awards, the struggle, the downfall and the rise of Lionel Messi.

Early Days

Born on 24th June 1987 to a humble family, Messi was named after a famous singer named Lionel Richie. Messi had a modestly large family of 3 siblings, his mother, his father and his grandmother. In his later stages of life, Messi admitted that his journey to becoming a footballer was majorly because of his grandmother. She was Messi’s driving force in his early footballing days.

When Messi was just 4 years old, he joined Grandoli, a football club in his locality. But due to his tiny stature and very young age, he was overlooked by the coach. Once, his grandmother, Celia took him to a game of football where his club’s team was playing. Fortunately that day, his team had one player less.

From the stands, Celia shouted at the coach,” Play him, play him” and pointed at little Leo. The coach was a bit reluctant at first as Messi was still a year younger than the rest of the team and was afraid that he might get hurt. Still, after constant nagging from Messi’s grandmother, the coach agreed to make him play. That day, Messi did something that astounded the coach and the coach agreed to buy him a pair of boots and train him as a regular.

• First professional club

Lionel Messi’s first professional club was not FC Barcelona. It was an Argentinian club named Newell’s Old Boys. In 1995, Messi joined the youth team of Newell’s and went on to play for the club till 2000. In his 6 years at Newell’s, Messi made history, scoring 234 goals in 176 matches. During his final year, he even won the league undefeated.

But after all of this glory, Messi was somewhat forced to leave his boyhood club. At the age of 11, Messi was diagnosed with Growth Hormone Deficiency syndrome. This meant that he would not be able to reach the physical stature of a fully grown man unless he was treated properly. But this treatment was costly. When Messi’s parents asked the club to pay for his treatments, they said that it was too much for them as well.

But this was not the end of Little Leo.

Carles Rexach, the then sporting director of Barcelona, was made aware of a player named Lionel Messi. He himself flew from Barcelona, Spain to Rosario, Argentina, to watch Messi play. It was love at first sight.

After the match, Carles Rexach was desperate to sign Leo Messi. He had a talk with Messi’s camp and was made known about his health condition. He then offered that FC Barcelona would pay for his treatment if Messi moved to Spain.

This was not to the liking of the then Barcelona President, Joan Laporta. Quite a coincidence. He was not convinced about spending such a huge amount of money on such a young player. But Carles insisted on signing Messi.

Even without the green signal from president Laporta, Carles went forward with the deal. Surprisingly, the deal was signed on a piece of napkin at a restaurant in Argentina, surely not the place you would expect such an iconic event to take place.

• Hola Espanya

To travel across the world at the age of 13, far from your family, far from your friends?

Pretty hard for a teenager. But this is not just another kid we are talking about, it's Lionel Messi. It may seem to be nothing as such, after looking at the career he has had. But if you look from Leo’s perspective, it was a life-changing decision.

Messi left the city of Rosario with a heavy heart and travelled to Barcelona. After arriving in Barcelona, Messi was still too young to train with the senior team, and quite honestly, was not ready yet.

To ensure his steady growth and develop proper footballing chemistry, Barcelona made Messi join their youth academy, La Masia, the greatest football academy ever built. There, Messi played alongside the likes of young Iniesta, Xavi, Pique and Busquets.

Even in such a star-studded academy, Messi was the stand-out player. Not disrespecting any of the legends mentioned above, but Messi was a different gravy. He dribbled past players like they were inexistent, scored like it was a mere formality and moved as if the ball was glued to his feet.

It was not much later that Messi got his first team call-up. On October 2004, Messi represented the Catalans for the first time in a Laliga game, against city rivals Espanyol. This made Messi the youngest player at that time to ever play for FC Barcelona. Quite a remarkable feat.

That year, he made 26 appearances for FC Barcelona across all competitions and won the Laliga. It was quite remarkable for a young player of 17 years to play alongside Ronaldinho, Deco, Puyol and many other iconic players.

That year, Messi won the U-20 Fifa world cup with Argentina as well, scoring 6 goals and assisting twice. He even scored a brace against Nigeria in the final and went on to beat them 2:1.

• First setback

The next season was even more eventful for Lionel Messi. He had a solid start to the season with 6 goals and 2 assists in his 11 starts. All of this seemed just like a fairy tale, until now. On March 7, 2006, he had a terrible hamstring injury while playing against Chelsea.

This injury was a severe blow for Messi. Because of this, he missed the remaining half of the season in Laliga. Fortunately, FC Barcelona won the Champions League that year, ending their 14 years of European glory drought, defeating Arsenal.

But it was very heartbreaking for Messi as he was not able to play such an important match. To this date, Messi still deeply regrets the fact that he did not go out to celebrate with his team that day. In a later interview, he threw light on the incident, saying that he had not realised what was going on and did not join in the celebrations.

It was not the only heartbreak he had that year. Argentina lost to Germany on penalties, in the quarterfinal. But it still remains a mystery to this date why Argentina's coach Pekerman did not play Messi in the quarter-final.

Messi remained silent in the post-match interview, and Pekerman explained that he needed tall players against Germany to beat them on the air. But this explanation seemed too lazy because as far as we know, Argentines were known for their footballing flair and not their physicality.

The next year was also somewhat injury-ridden with Messi missing 19 matches for FC Barcelona. He still managed to score 17 goals and help his teammates 3 times during that season. But this season was not so great for FC Barcelona as they were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 by Liverpool and finished second in Laliga, losing just by head-to-head results to Real Madrid.

But that season, Messi achieved a phenomenal feat that still astonishes and upsets the Real fans to this date. On March 2007, 19-year-old Lionel Messi humiliated the Galactico Real Madrid team, scoring his career’s first hattrick against players like Roberto Carlos, Iker Casillas, Ronaldo Nazario, Sergio Ramos, David Beckham, Raul, Robinho, Guti and many more. No other Barcelona player has been able to achieve this feat to this date.

Mind you, these are not rookie numbers. Messi finished 3rd that year, just behind an in-form Cristiano Ronaldo and the legendary Kaka. This was surely the beginning of something great, something that was just warming up to shake up the football world

• Just warming up

After 2 years of somewhat injury-ridden football, the 2007/08 season was the season where Messi became an integral part of the Barcelona team and not just another hot prospect. He played 40 matches for FC Barcelona that season and managed to score 16 goals and assist 16 more across all competitions at the club level.

Not only that, but Lionel Messi also won his second trophy with his national team, Argentina. He won the 2008 summer Olympics gold medal, scoring 2 and assisting 3 goals. Even though Olympic glory is not something footballing peeps hold with high regard, it was surely something to celebrate for young Leo.

Even though Messi played pretty well, he was able to only finish second in the Ballon d or rankings that season. A young Portuguese boy named Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2008 Ballon d or after winning the Premier League and the Champions League with Manchester United and won the European golden shoe after scoring 31 League goals.

But the season was not quite phenomenal for Barca. They finished 3rd in the Laliga table and were knocked out of the Champions League and Copa Del Ray Semi-final by Manchester United and Valencia respectively. Manager Frank Rijkaard was sacked shortly after the season ended.

It was time for some change. On June 2008, Barcelona appointed Pep Guardiola, the Barcelona B coach of that time, as Barcelona's senior team manager. Having played for FC Barcelona and being an integral part of Johan Cruyff’s team, Pep Guardiola was assigned the task of making Barcelona reach its past days of glory again.

At The Top Of His Game

• When Pep has a plan, respect

After becoming the manager, Guardiola made some stern rules and regulations about discipline in the dressing room, diet and field. Being a La Masia graduate himself and playing under Johan Cruyff, Guardiola had Blaugrana philosophy in his blood. He seemingly had found an effective and efficient way of implementing it in his team.

The heart of Barcelona was its midfield, which consisted of Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets and Thiago and Pep was the brain. So where does Messi come in? He was the one who made Barcelona come to life. With a team full of youngsters and the philosophy of tiki-taka, Pep was determined to make Barcelona great again. And he did.

For the first time in the history of football, a team had won the sextuple in a single season, and it was FC Barcelona. Barca played football in a way that no one had ever seen. The philosophy of “take the ball, pass the ball” achieved wonders. And then, there was Lionel Messi.

Scoring 38 goals and assisting 19 more, Messi was unstoppable under Pep. He even scored in the Champions League final with a magnificent header, which ultimately became the match-winner in their 2:0 victory against Manchester United. The footballing world was in a state of utter surprise as they saw a 22-year-old bully teams and make defenders feel like spectators.

• The first Ballon d or

Lionel Messi won the ballon d or in 2009, defeating Cristiano Ronaldo by quite a margin. This made him the 3rd youngest player to win this award. He even won the La Liga best player award, which started from that year onwards.

Apart from Messi’s exceptional talent and understanding of the game, there was only one person who deserved the credit for this award. Pep Guardiola. Pep made Messi the main man of FC Barcelona where he was just another youngster. Pep saw the potential in him and did his best to bring that out, and he was successful, to say the least.

• The trailer is over, time for the movie

From there on, it was just uphill for Lionel Messi.

The next season was even more spectacular than the last one for Messi. Even though Barcelona failed to win the Champions League, they managed to edge past Real Madrid and win the Laliga for the 2nd time in a row. In terms of statistics, Messi smashed it once again. He won the Pichichi, which is the award for the top scorer in Laliga, and the European Golden shoe after scoring 47 goals for FC Barcelona across all competitions.

Messi was smashing records at the club, but the same was not true for his national team Argentina. Argentina crashed out of the 2010 Fifa World cup after losing 4:0 to Germany in the Quarter Finals. The Argentine Coach at that time even commented that Messi was already exhausted when he came to the world cup after a 58-game season for FC Barcelona and it is not possible to single-handedly win the world cup.

Nevertheless, Messi won the 2010 Fifa Ballon d or for the second time in a row. You need to understand how good Messi was, considering he had neither won the World cup nor the UEFA Champions League that season. Some say that Messi did not deserve this Ballon d or and that Iniesta or Sneijder should have won it instead, but we must all remember that it is an individual award and not a collective one. And Messi’s individual performance that season was by far the best.

The 2010/11 season was no different. Messi won the champions league and the Ballon d or for the third time in his career at the same time. Scoring 53 goals and assisting 27 more, Lionel Messi was just unstoppable and won 4 trophies with FC Barcelona that season. Usually, achievements of this stature are highlights of most players’ careers. But for Messi, it was just another season, just another record.

We have just reached the midway of this Man’s career and boy, I am having a hard time finding more adjectives. If you ask me, the man deserves to be an adjective himself. From today onwards, I will use the word Messistic to describe something out of this world, something so great that it does not seem Earthly

• Messistic 2012

Then came the season of 2012. The only way to describe the 2012 season is by the word Messistic. No other adjective comes even close to what the man had achieved that season. Even if we just look at the numbers, it is astounding to say the least. And to think that an actual person had achieved this feat is pure madness.

Lionel Messi scored 91 goals and delivered 22 assists playing just 69 games, in a single calendar year, in 2012. 91 GOALS, 22 ASSISTS, 69 GAMES. Read that again. These numbers are just crazy. Messi scored a goal every 66 minutes and made a goal contribution every 53. Nope, it is not a season in a video game.

I mean making an average of almost 2 goal contributions every match, that is some unreal stuff there itself. Messi had a direct goal contribution of 60% of all goals FC Barcelona scored in 2011/12. I mean it is pure greatness when you realize that you have to compare a player with a team to make it sound like a fair deal. Only 10 teams across 5 top European leagues had more goals than Lionel Messi’s goal contributions. Yes, you read that right, 10 clubs managed to outscore Messi, only 10 CLUBS !!

Lionel Messi broke the record by Gerd Muller for scoring the most goals in a calendar year, which was 85 goals before Messi broke it with his 91 goals a season. And you need to keep this in mind, Gerd Muller is a pure breed striker, while Messi played in a much deeper position, an attacking midfielder or a winger at best.

Although Barcelona did not manage to win either the Laliga or the Champions League, Lionel Messi won the Ballon d or and the Laliga best player of the season and there was no debate regarding this. Everyone had to accept that the season Messi had in 2012, seemed more like some fictional story than reality. With this award, Lionel Messi became the player with the most ballon d or’s, winning 4 in a row.

• “Average Season”

When you are a constant at the top, absolutely insane performances are often looked at like an average season. This was the case for Lionel Messi. Messi won the Pichichi and the European golden boot in the 2012/13 season after scoring 60 goals and assisting 17 more for Barca. He even lifted the Laliga trophy and Supercoa de Espana with FC Barcelona. Unfortunately for Barcelona, Pep Guardiola decided to leave FC Barcelona that season to look for new challenges.

But this would not have been enough for him to ensure that he won the Ballon d or that season. Lionel Messi finished second in the Ballon d or ranking after Cristiano Ronaldo who won it for the second time in his career. This is often considered one of the most controversial Ballon d ors as it was believed Frank Riberry should have won this one after winning the treble with Bayern Munich and having more assists than Messi and Ronaldo.

• Close but no cigar

Then came 2014. There are some years in footballing history that strike an instant image in your brain whenever you hear it. Such was the case in 2014. When you hear Messi and 2014 in the same sentence, you know what the discussion is all about.

2014 was the year of the Brazil Fifa World Cup. After carrying a pretty average Argentinian team to the Finals, it was time for Messi to shine. But sometimes things do not always fold out as you expect them to. Gonzalo Higuain missed a sitter and when he managed to score one, it was deemed offside. Deep in the game, Palacios got a golden opportunity to seal the opportunity but was no good as well. In fact, Messi did get a chance himself, though it was not as clear-cut as Higuain and Palacios, the ball did beat the keeper but narrowly grazed past the far post.

Deep into extra time, Mario Gotze, “The German Messi”, scored the match-winner with a beautiful receive followed by a flawless volley. And just like that, the world cup hopes of Argentina and Lionel Messi were shattered in a second. A fairy tale ending for Germany, a lesson for Argentina.

Messi won the Golden ball for being the best player of the tournament, but it did not seem to be of much importance to him. Again, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who won the 2014 Ballon d or, 2 in a row after being the top scorer of Laliga and Europe and winning the Champions League.

• Prime #2

The following season, we saw a different Messi. Yes, we all know that Messi was a gifted player from first but what we saw in 2015, made us question how gifted he was. Apart from being a phenomenal dribbler and a prolific scorer, we saw for the first time how good Messi’s vision was. He had an understanding of the game that was just a level beyond.

With a newfound vision, Messi helped Barcelona secure their 5th and his 4th Champions League after scoring 10 and assisting 6 times in the competition. In total, Barcelona won 5 trophies that season alone. But times were unfortunate as Messi lost his second Copa America final against Chile after going into extra time.

At this point, these were just numbers. The level of football Messi played during this season was beyond description. There has hardly ever been such a complete player in footballing history who could score the ball every time he got the opportunity and pass the ball as if there was no opposition.

With such an absolutely messistic performance, it was no doubt that Messi won the 2015 Ballon d or, his 5th. It looked as if it was not fair to compare other players to him as they were nearly not half as good as Lionel Messi, no offence. Yes, there is Cristiano Ronaldo, Manuel Neuer, Suarez, Neymar, Bale and many more, but Messi was just different and he proved it himself.

• Real dominance, UCL disappointment and Copa failure

The next patch of Messi’s career was not filled with silverware as it had been previously. For the next 3 seasons, Real Madrid dominated the Champions League, becoming the first team to ever win three in a row. At the same time, Barcelona had a hard time, crashing out at the quarter-final stage three times in a row.

But Barcelona did manage to win 2 Laligas in these 3 years. Their domestic dominance continued under Lionel Messi’s insane form. Messi did manage to win 2 Pichichi and 2 European golden shoes in this tenure. It was more and more evident that Barcelona became increasingly dependent on Lionel Messi by the end of 2018.

The most shocking news came in 2016 when Messi decided to retire from international football after missing a penalty in the Copa America final penalty shoot-out against Chile, which ultimately cost them the cup. Messi was heartbroken after losing 3 Copa finals and 1 world cup final. Everyone had deemed Messi to be unsuccessful with his National team and that he can only perform at Barcelona.

Luckily for the Footballing world and Argentina, Messi decided to come back and revoked his national team retirement, after deciding to play in the 2018 Fifa World Cup. But things turned sour soon for Messi. To say that the Argentine team of 2018 was in shambles would be an understatement. The defence was inexistent and their strategy for the attack was somehow to pass the ball to Messi. Even with this lacklustre performance, Argentina somehow reached the quarter-finals. They narrowly lost to France 4-3, who went on to lift the world cup.

Messi’s performance with Barcelona proved to be insufficient as in 2016 and 2017, Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d or, equalling Messi’s tally of 5 Ballon d or and Luka Modric won the 2018 Ballon d or after an inspiring performance in the Russia World Cup, carrying his team, Croatia, to the finals.

Barcelona’s bad business in the transfer market, spending millions of dollars on ineffective signings meant that it was Messi’s job to carry Barcelona. People often pointed out that Messi’s success was heavily dependent upon Barcelona as a team and its philosophy. But the departure of Xavi in 2016 and Iniesta in 2018 meant that it was only Messi now.

• Prime #3 incoming

2018/19 Messi was something different. At the age of 31, Messi was reborn. This time, as a captain, a captain that Barcelona desperately needed. Flawed management led to the downfall of Barcelona as a team and filled it with worthless expensive signings. The times were such that the tactics followed by Barcelona was pass the ball to Messi.

Even with such a flawed team, Barcelona managed to win the Laliga and even got to the semifinals after 4 years. But if football would have been a single man’s game, there would have been no teams. Barca’s failure as a team was evident in their 4-0 Loss at Anfield, which resulted in an exit for Barcelona from the Champions league.

The 2019 Ballon d or was announced and it was once again, Lionel Messi. This was a very controversial Ballon d or as most people believed that Virgil Van Dijk had a superior season to Messi after winning the Champions League and narrowly losing the Premier League to Manchester City for just one point. Only one player was able to dribble past Van Dijk in that entire season and that is an absolutely crazy stat for a defender.

But once again, we must remember one thing, individual awards are different from collective awards. If we look at the 2018/19 season, we can see that Barcelona as a team was far inferior to Liverpool. But even with such a team, Messi won his sixth European golden shoe and Pichichi and also the best playmaker of the season award. Messi was an absolute beast as he not only scored 51 goals but also provided 22 assists. To perform this well even with a team like this is in itself an achievement.

Aged like a fine wine

• The lone warrior

Of all things Messi is seen as, no one has ever thought of him as someone who can predict the future. But he did. At the start of the 2019/20 season, Messi gave a speech in Camp Nou as the captain of FC Barcelona. In that speech, he mentioned that in the coming years, Barca will understand that winning the Laliga is a very big achievement. To put it simply, hard times were coming and Barca is not prepared.

The 2019/20 season was definitely one of the worst seasons Barcelona has ever had in the last decade or two. Not only did they not win a single piece of silverware, but their team was in a state of crisis that no one had ever seen before. Snowflake defence, confused midfield, blunt attack, this was a proper description of the Catalan giants.

The nail in the coffin came during the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Bayern Munich toyed with the Barcelona team, scoring 8 goals and ending the match with an 8-2 scoreline. Barca was in shambles. The only person that kept them from falling apart was Lionel Messi.

Even in such a hopeless situation, Messi provided the Blaugranas with a light of hope. The lone warrior scored 31 goals and assisted 27 more, breaking the record for the highest number of assists in a single season. It is very hard to believe that even with such a team, Messi was able to carry Barcelona and finish second in the Laliga title race, just 5 points behind Real Madrid. This is definitely a season that goes way underappreciated in the books of Lionel Messi.

• 7th Ballon d or

Messi was now a different beast. Scars of failure and harsh criticism for the team’s failure had turned him into something no one believed was possible for a 34-year-old. Messi entered the 2021 Copa America with a team full of youngsters, an unwavering mindset and a lion’s heart.

After losing 3 Copa America finals, it was time for Messi to shine. Scoring 4 goals and assisting 5 more in the tournament, Messi had a direct contribution of 75% of all goals Argentina scored in the competition. Messi even won the tournament’s top scorer and best player for his performance.

At last, after 16 years of struggle, heartbreak and misery, Messi lifted the Copa America. This was enough to silence the haters who said Messi was not able to perform with Argentina. Messi also proved his critics wrong who said that Messi was not a good captain.

As of Barcelona, Messi was the only string of hope that kept Barcelona in the top 4 and win the Copa Del Rey. It is not possible to describe how pitiful the condition of FC Barcelona was, a team that was once considered to be a European Giant was now just a mere shadow of its former self.

“Messi will probably retire with five, six, or seven Ballon D’ors. He’s in a league of his own,”

Johan Cruyff predicted this when he was asked about Messi in 2012. Messi proved him right. Messi won the Fifa Ballon d or for the 7th time in November 2021, making him the only player to ever do so. This was a testament of how consistently great he was at being at the top.

• Bye bye Barca

Just prior to winning his 7th Ballon d or, Messi experienced the biggest shock of his life. No matter what the team was, Barcelona was his home, his one true love, his family. Yes, he wanted to leave Barcelona in 2020, but that was because of the crooked management that spread lies about Messi, used him as the scapegoat and amassed a whopping $1 billion debt for the club. But in 2021, it was different.

Messi’s contract came to an end in the summer of 2021 and Joan Laporta, the president of FC Barcelona promised the Culers that he would renew the contract. But due to Laliga’s strict Financial Fair Play Laws and the club’s billion-dollar debt, Messi’s contract was deemed to be too expensive.

But money was not an issue for Lionel Messi. He was ready to take a 50% pay cut, the highest a player can take legally in Laliga, and continue playing for Barcelona. But that proved to be insufficient as there was still no room to include Messi in the already inflated payroll of Barcelona. Yes, there are many theories, many possibilities that were revealed later by football pundits, which could have allowed Barcelona to re-sign Leo Messi, but at the end of the day, nothing happened.

On August 5, 2021, Barcelona released an official statement that said that Lionel Messi will no longer continue playing at FC Barcelona. This came as shock for both the players and the supporters. That day Barcelona lost their crown prince and Messi lost his home, his family, and his love.

• Underwhelming season

After leaving Barcelona, Messi decided to join Paris Saint Germain to reunite with his ex-Barca teammate and dear friend, Neymar Jr. After Messi’s arrival, the PSG team looked absolutely mind-boggling on paper with the deadliest attack in the whole of Europe, consisting of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe.

But only if real life was as simple as Fifa. The team lacked a proper strategy and rhythm with Pochettino, the manager of PSG, failing to utilize his team to the fullest. There was an evident lack of chemistry between Messi and Mbappe and Neymar and Mbappe, which led to selfish solo runs from Mbappe and ineffective build-ups.

It was a pretty disappointing season for PSG as they were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 by an inspired Real Madrid. Also, it was not a good season for Messi as he managed to score only 11 goals and provide 15 assists. A season like this may often be considered a great season for most players, which proves how high Lionel Messi has set the bar for himself.

This gave the critics the perfect opportunity. The media started saying that Messi has joined a farmers league but still struggles to perform, how can a player with a team so good fail to lift the champions league and whatnot. Some even gave the verdict that at the age of 35, Messi is finished.

At the age of 35, most football players retire or leave high-level football. If Messi retired at the age of 35, he still would have been considered one of the greatest football players to have ever played the game. He could have left with his 7-ballon d ors. He could have finished his career with Copa America that shut the mouth of those who said Messi could not perform with his national team.

But people often forget one thing. It's not any other player we are talking about, it's Lionel Messi.

Mehhhsii

• A Banger Start

Against all odds, Messi made a comeback, and this time it was something dangerous. Messi started the season with a bang, scoring 2 goals and assisting 1 in the debut match of the season. There was a flare in Messi, something that was never seen before. There was a newborn hunger in him which was not bad news for other teams.

By the start of November, Lionel Messi had scored 12 goals and assisted 14 more in just 19 matches for Paris Saint Germain and scored 5 goals and made 1 assist in his 3 matches for Argentina. This new prime that Messi had found was proving to be deadly as ever. Now, it was time for the World Cup.

The final piece

Because of some reason, the Fifa world cup, which was supposed to take place in the summer of 2022, took place in the winter. This meant that the players had little to no break from club football and a lack of practice with national teammates. This was a huge blow for many nations that had players playing in different top leagues of Europe day in and day out. Big names like N'golo Kante, Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane and many more were set to miss the world cup because of injuries.

The world cup began with a lot of hope and expectation and everyone was in it to win it. Because of Argentina’s Copa victory and a 36-match unbeaten run, they were one of the favourites to lift the Fifa world cup but boy oh boy, if only the real world was solely dependent on statistics.

The first match came as a shock for Argentina and everyone around the world. Argentina lost the game 2-1 against Saudi Arabia. Yes, you read that right. The “world cup favourites” lost their opening match against a 51-ranked Saudi Arabia, ending their 36-match unbeaten run. Yes, Saudi Arabia did play really well, especially in the second half, but Argentina looked very disoriented in that match.

The next match was crucial for Argentina as a loss would seal their fate and a draw would not be very likely either. It was time for Messi to take the reins in his hand. With an absolute world-class attempt, Messi opened the scoreboard, after beating one of the best world cup goalkeepers. He also had an assist to his name, although the goal was a masterclass from Enzo Fernandez.

The final match in the group stage was against Poland. Arguably one of the best keepers in the Fifa world cup 2022, Szczęsny gave the Argentines a hard time, even saving a penalty from Lionel Messi. But it was not too late when Mac Allister scored the opener and Julian Alvarez doubled the lead. This win saw Argentina pass through the group stage and into the round of 16. Argentina was now looking more solid as a team and had improved chemistry as compared to their first match.

The next match was against Australia. Even though everyone expected Argentina to easily win the match, they had quite a hard time. Messi again opened the game with a simple yet accurate finish. Alvarez doubled the lead with a cheeky snatch from the keeper. Australia became very aggressive in the final moments, almost equalizing. With a 2-1 win against Australia, Argentina moved forward to the Quarter Finals.

The match against the Netherlands was a tough hurdle to cross. Even after providing an out-of-the-world assist and converting a penalty, Messi was not able to ensure their place in the Semifinals. The Netherlands made a comeback in the very last minute and the match ultimately led to penalties. This time, Emi Martinez came to the rescue. With 2 absolutely magical saves, Martinez booked a spot for Argentina in the Semis

Croatians entered the Semis with an iron will and a determined team. Although everyone expected the match to be a tough decider, Argentina dominated the game. It was Messi again who opened the scoreline with a penalty, with Julain Alvarez ploughing the defence and doubling the lead again. Then Messi showed why he was the best again. He literally toyed with Gvardiol, the best defender of the Fifa World Cup 2022, and provided an assist to make the scoreline 3-0.

Now, it was the time of the World Cup everyone had been desperately waiting for, the finals. With a star-studded team and a killer in-form Mbappe, France was looking deadly as ever. Argentina, on the other hand, had Messi who was playing unbelievable football even at the age of 35. It was Messi’s last shot at world cup glory, his last chance to win the biggest trophy anyone can ever win.

The match began. Argentina was looking pretty dominant, while France looked very disoriented for the first time in the world cup. It was not long before Messi opened the scoreline once again with a beautiful penalty. Angel Di Maria scored an absolute worldie from the edge of the box. At this tempo, everyone already saw Argentina as the champions.

But the game was far from over. A 23-year-old Kylian Mbappe obliterated the world cup hopes of Argentina after scoring a penalty in the 80th minute and an utterly impossible volley in the very next minute. France were back in the game. The game then advanced to extra time. Messi again provided Argentina with the lead after scoring in the 108th minute. But it was Mbappe again who equalized the score and completed his hattrick after converting a very controversial penalty. Emi Martinez made a crucial save at the end which could have seen France win the WorldCup.

The match advanced to penalties. Both Messi and Mbappe took the first penalty for their team, scoring each of them. It was time for Emi Martinez to stand up again. Teasing his opponents just before taking the penalty, and getting inside the mind of other players made him receive a yellow card. But his tactics worked. He saved one and made the opposition miss one. He did his part and now it was all up to his teammates. Argentina had scored 3 of their 3 penalties and France had scored 2 of their 4. Argentina needed to score one more to seal the deal.

“It could be today Grandma” whispered Leo Messi to himself as Montiel walked up to take the final penalty for Argentina. And it went in. Argentina won the world cup. The Albiceleste lifted the trophy after 36 years. The stadium tore apart. The air was filled with tunes of “VAMOS ARGENTINAAA!!”.

Lionel Messi won the golden ball for the second time, a feat no other player had achieved previously. Emi Martinez also won his well-deserved golden glove after saving Argentina twice. Messi just missed the top spot by one goal and finished second in the race to the golden boot, scoring 7 goals as compared to Kylian’s 8. But nothing else mattered as Lionel Messi lifted the trophy for the first time ever.

Messi won the Fifa World Cup, the final piece to his stacked trophy cabinet. Messi had won everything the football world had to offer. He had now won every tournament he had ever played in. Read that statement again. At the age of 35, Messi showed the world that he is far from finished and still continues to play football at the highest level.

The End?

If the story ended like this, it would have been the perfect fairy tale. But wait, it's Lionel Messi. You cannot stop this player. He is in competition with himself. With his phenomenal world cup performance, he is closer to his 8th Ballon d or than ever. He even did not retire from his national team, saying he wants to continue playing with his nation, now as a champion. Now that’s what you call a true captain and a true champion.

This settles the goat debate once and for all. Although, in reality, no one can be declared the greatest of all time as football has existed for over a decade and there have been thousands of players who have smashed records that were not even recorded. Times have changed and so has the football world. So, it would be blatantly ignorant to declare Messi or any other footballer to be the Greatest of All Time.

But if you are still willing to find an answer to this question, Lionel Messi might be the nearest to it. He is definitely the best player of this generation and if you compare the trophies and records, there are not many with such impressive stats. Ultimately there is no correct answer to this question, but if you still want an answer, it's Lionel Messi.

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