Lionel Messi is one of the best players in the history of world football. Over the past two decades of playing football, the Argentine superstar has created countless great records. Here are 5 of Messi’s most unbelievable records that may never be broken.
Player with most titles: 45 titles
After winning the 2024 Copa America, Messi has won 45 titles throughout his career, 2 more than the second-placed Dani Alves (43 titles, no longer playing).
Ronaldo, who has been competing with Messi for years, has only 35 titles. The rest of the Top 10 have mostly retired, and if they are still playing, they are in the “retirement” stage.
As for Messi, he even has the opportunity to improve his achievements when playing for Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. With the current situation, it is very difficult to find a name that can surpass Messi in terms of titles in the future.
Messi has 45 titles so far
Player with most Ballon d’Or awards: 8 titles
Another unprecedented record of Messi. In history, only 2 players have won more than 3 Ballons d’Or. Messi is number 1 with 8 titles. Ronaldo is number 2 with only 5 Ballons d’Or. At the age of 39 and playing in Saudi Arabia, equaling Messi’s achievements is an impossible task for Ronaldo at the moment.
Messi won his first Ballon d’Or in 2009 at the age of 22. By the age of 25, the Argentine superstar had won four Ballons d’Or. Currently, Messi is still the reigning Ballon d’Or winner.
At this point, the prospect of Messi increasing his number of Golden Balls is not high. However, the number of 8 Golden Balls is still too unbelievable, considered very difficult to break.
Messi’s 8 Ballon d’Or wins
Most goals scored in a calendar year: 91 goals
In 2012, Messi was simply unstoppable. The Argentine superstar scored 91 goals in a row, surpassing the old record of 85 goals set by the legendary Gerd Muller in 1972.
On average, Messi scored nearly 1.5 goals per game in 2012, scoring almost every time he played. Ronaldo is the player who scored the most official goals in history. However, the Portuguese superstar reached the milestone of 70 goals in a calendar year. Messi could not reach it but even surpassed it.
Mbappe, Haaland and Lewandowski are all excellent goalscorers. However, scoring 91 goals per season is probably still “too much” for these stars.
Top goalscorer for one club – 672 goals
Messi’s peak was associated with Barca. At the Nou Camp, Messi scored 672 goals, an unbelievable number. It should be remembered that in football history, only 6 players have scored over 672 official goals. Messi did it with only one team.
Not only is Messi a good scorer, he is also the number 1 assist maker in Barca’s history with 269 assists. Thanks to Messi’s contribution, Barca has gone through the most successful period in history with 2 divine trebles.
Messi sets scoring record at Barca
Youngest player to complete Ballon d’Or hat-trick
Ronaldo de Lima is the youngest player to win the Ballon d’Or. However, Messi is the fastest player to successfully win 3 Ballons d’Or.
In 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Ballon d’Or all belonged to the same name: Messi. At the award ceremony on January 9, 2012, Messi was only 24 years, 6 months, and 16 days old. Look at the stars of today, Mbappe will turn 26 this year but has never won the Ballon d’Or. Haaland is the same at 24.
In history, only Marco van Basten, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, and Cristiano Ronaldo have won 3 or more Ballon d’Or awards.
