Introduction
Lionel Messi is one of the most famous and successful football players in the world. He has won many awards, but he was not always like this. In fact, his career took off after joining Barcelona at age 13. Since then, he has become a household name and achieved many great things on the pitch.
Who is the best footballer in the world?
Lionel Messi is the best footballer in the world. He is a fantastic player, who can play in any position on the pitch and make a difference to his team’s performance.
If you look at Ronaldo, he has been playing well enough to be considered as one of the top players in this generation but not as good as Messi has been recently.
The best striker in Football History is Pele, who was able to win three World Cups with Brazil (1958, 1962 and 1970). However, Ronaldo and Messi have both won four Ballon d’Or awards each which means that they are equally good strikers as well as goal scorers for their respective countries!
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi is a professional footballer who plays for Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He is the best player in the world, and he has won the Ballon d’Or seven times.
Rise to success
Lionel Messi is a world-renowned soccer player who has won international acclaim for his outstanding athletic achievements. He made his debut as a professional player in 2004 and quickly rose to prominence, making his first appearance with the Argentina national team in 2005 at age 16. In 2006, Messi became the youngest player to win a La Liga title and scored his first goal at age 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old. He also set an all-time record by becoming Barcelona’s leading scorer in just four seasons (passing Quini on May 6th 2010), beating Real Madrid’s César Rodríguez who took eight seasons to reach that milestone with Atlético Madrid before him.
Matches and awards
- Best player in the world
- Best player in the history of football
- Best player in the history of Barcelona
- Most goals scored by a single player at Barcelona – 522 goals since 2004, breaking César Rodríguez’s record (369) and adding to his own previous best of 509. The Argentinean is also La Liga’s all-time top scorer with 450 goals.
- Most goals scored by a single player in a single season – 50 goals over 38 matches during 2011/2012 season. Messi has won five Ballon d’Ors (2009*, 2010, 2011*, 2012 and 2015), four European Golden Shoes (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013) as well as numerous other prestigious individual awards throughout his career which include three FIFA World Player of Year awards (2009*, 2010 & 2012).
Comparison with Ronaldo’s career
Ronaldo is a better scorer than Messi (with 505 goals in 731 games compared to Messi’s 573 goals in 882 games). Ronaldo is also a better dribbler than Messi, with 82 more successful dribbles in his career so far. While neither player has great passing ability, Ronaldo still gets the edge here with 1,063 successful passes over his career compared to Leo’s 949. In terms of defense, Ronaldo has been known for his ability to rob defenders of possession and start counterattacks using his speed and strength; this has resulted in 0.42 interceptions per game from the Portuguese superstar vs 0.32 from the Argentinian one.
Finally—perhaps most importantly—Ronaldo is also responsible for providing assists at a higher rate than Lionel: 2 assists per game vs 1 assist per game respectively
Comparison with Maradona’s career
- Maradona was a better dribbler
- Maradona scored more goals
- Maradona was a better passer
- Maradona was a better defender
- Maradona was a better free kick taker
- Maradona was a better penalty taker
Comparison with Pele’s career
If you’re a football fan, chances are that you have heard of the legendary Brazilian striker Pele. The man with the most goals in World Cup history, nine players from his 1970 squad were inducted into the FIFA Hall of Fame in 1996 and he topped an online poll asking who was the greatest player ever.
So how does Messi compare? Well, according to some people (including Pele himself), he doesn’t compare at all. But let’s take a look at their careers side-by-side:
- Pele won three World Cups; Messi has only won one.
- While Messi is considered by many as one of the greatest dribblers ever and certainly one of the best current players around today, he still trails behind Pele when it comes to dribbling ability overall because while they both scored almost equally often — 1 goal every 2 games for both players — Pele did so while taking fewer shots per game than Messi does today!
What is he planning for his future?
Messi is planning on retiring at the age of 34. In 2022, he hopes to bring home a World Cup title with Argentina and retire after having played for Barcelona for 20 years. Messi firmly believes that he can play for at least another five years and if he does retire then it will be because his body tells him so.
Messi’s performance at World Cups
Messi has played in three World Cups so far, and his performances at these tournaments are worth examining. In 2006 he scored four goals in five games as Argentina finished fourth, but all four goals were against Serbia and Montenegro during the group stage. He also missed a penalty kick against Germany in the semi-finals which would have sent his team to the final instead of Italy.
In 2010 Messi scored one goal and made one assist as Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany in extra time after winning their group with five points from three games. This was Messi’s worst performance at a World Cup so far by some distance; however it could be argued that he was carrying an injury which hampered his chances of making an impact on the tournament overall.
In 2014 Messi had an excellent tournament overall with 7 goals including two hat tricks – one against Bosnia & Herzegovina (4-1), one against Nigeria (3-2) – leading Argentina into another final after knocking out Switzerland 3-0 on penalties (although this was arguably due to their opponents’ over reliance on defensive tactics). They lost 1-0 again though this time after Luis Suarez bit Giorgio Chiellini during stoppage time which led FIFA’s disciplinary committee to ban him for nine international matches!
In my opinion, Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer of all time.
Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer of all time.
He has won more trophies than anyone else. Messi has scored more goals than anyone else. He has won more Ballon d’Ors than any other player, and he is the only person to win the award four times in a row (a feat that no one will be able to match).
Messi’s talent on the pitch can sometimes be hard to describe using words alone. If you haven’t seen him play, it might be difficult for you to understand what makes him so special. But if you’re interested in seeing him play live — or even just watching clips online — then I highly recommend checking out some highlights from his career so far!
Conclusion
I think there is no doubt that Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer of all time. He has achieved so much in his career, from winning multiple Ballon d’Or awards to scoring tons of goals for Barcelona and Argentina. Ronaldo might have been better than Messi but right now he’s on another level when Ronaldo retires, I believe that Messi will still be playing at an elite level just like he has always been doing
