On December 18, 2022, following an exciting final match, Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup surrounded by his teammates after Argentina's victory over France in a penalty shootout in Qatar, thus marking his name as the headline of the football year. With his long-awaited crowning as world champion, Messi has now claimed all the titles he could win. He now sits at the pinnacle of football, where very few players, apart from Brazilian legend Pelé and Argentine Diego Maradona, can compete with him for the title of greatest player in history.
The “little genius” boasts an astonishing record: World Cup (2022), Copa America (2021), four UEFA Champions League titles, numerous championships and cups with both his national team and clubs, and seven Ballon d'Or awards! With this collective 41st trophy he has won in the biggest football competitions, not counting the Under-20 World Cup, the 35-year-old Argentine has quantitatively distanced himself from Pelé, Maradona, Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, Argentine-Spanish Alfredo Di Stéfano, Dutch Johan Cruyff, and even German Franz Beckenbauer.
In the aftermath of winning the precious trophy and embossing a third star for Argentina, the sports newspaper "Mundo Deportivo" in Barcelona headlined its front page with "Messi, the best in history." Messi’s World Cup victory has led many fans to label him as the greatest player of all time, while another segment of fans continues to believe that Pelé and Maradona deserve this title.
