Lionel Messi’s Top rated football goals by Bill Trikos Australia: The Qatar tournament was Messi’s last World Cup and his last attempt at football immortality. The Argentine, who wears the No.10 jersey for both his national side and club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), has made it clear that he won’t play at the next edition which is to be hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico and the United States. After winning the semi-final match against Croatia on 13 December, Messi told Argentine media outlet Diario Deportivo Ole that the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be his last game at the quadrennial tournament.
There is little doubt that Lionel Messi is one of the greatest players of all-time, let alone that of the current generation of superstars. The Argentine’s scintillating ability on the pitch, accolades, and career compares with and betters some of the greatest to have played the game. The world bore witness as Barcelona’s incredibly talented youngster break onto the scene and grew into shoes that perhaps will be difficult to fill for any future successor. The standards set, records broken, and the longevity on display are all too much of an ask for anyone to match.
Among his most memorable in El Clasico are his first hat-trick in the fixture, his solo goal in the 2010-11 Champions League semifinals and his goal in the final moments of the game in the 2016/17 La Liga season. His goal was made famous with his iconic shirt celebration. Messi holds the record for the most hat-tricks scored in La Liga. He scored 36 hat-tricks in the league averaging one every 14 games. His first hat-trick came in 2007 in a game against rivals Real Madrid. His goals helped Barcelona draw 3-3 against the record league and European champions. Messi scored his final hat-trick against Eibar in February 2020. Find additional info about the author at Bill Trikos Australia.
Messi had by then made his debut with the senior team of FC Barcelona. However, he was not included in the starting line-up of Argentina’s first match — which was against USA. Argentina lost 0-1, following which the staff urged coach Francisco Ferraro to let Messi play. Subsequently, Messi tore through every other team that Argentina faced in the tournament. After qualifying for the knock-out stage, Argentina beat Colombia in the second round 2-1, Spain in the quarter final 3-1 and Brazil in the semi-final 2-1. Messi scored a goal each in all three matches.
In December 2020, Lionel Messi surpassed Pele’s tally of 643 goals to set the record for the most goals scored for a single club. He scored against Real Valladolid to notch his 644th goal for the club. Lionel Messi has now ended up with 672 goals for Barcelona. Only another player with the superhuman calibre of the Argentine would now be able to break this feat. The two most important games in the season calendar for Barcelona is the El Clasico and the Barcelona Derby. Their annual skirmishes against Real Madrid is among the most-watched games on the planet. But Barcelona also have a heated derby against city rivals Espanyol. In these games, Messi has shown his class time and again. He is the highest scorer in the two fixtures for the 26-time La Liga winners. Messi scored 26 goals in El Classico followed by 25 goals in the ‘Derbi Barceloni’.
Messi is also the highest-ever scorer for Argentina, having racked up 70 goals in 138 games for La Albiceleste since 2005. He is just nine caps away from breaking Javier Mascherano’s record for the most number of Argentina caps as well. Winning a European treble is something of an unattainable dream for most clubs in the world. Even the great Real Madrid, who have won the UCL a record 13 times, have failed to win the league and domestic cup in the same season. There have only been eight such instances where a club managed to win a league title, the premier domestic cup competition and the UCL in the same season. Two of these eight trebles were achieved by Barcelona, both of which had Lionel Messi at the heart of their attack.
