Messi has won seven Ballon d’Or throughout his illustrious career and he has finished as runner-up on five different occasions. The 36-year-old has stood the test of time, the fact that he is still in the Ballon d’Or discussion in 2023 further cements the M10’s status as a genius. Messi’s performance at the World Cup alone has put him in the Ballon d’Or conversation. However, that does not mean that Messi is not excellent in the domestic football tournament. Below are 12 unbelievable stats that prove he deserves to win the 2023 Golden Ball.
1. Messi has touched 3 titles in the 2022/2023 season: World Cup, Ligue 1 and Trophee des Champions.
Messi is likely to win the golden ball this year.
2. For club and country, Messi contributed to 67 goals during the Golden Ball voting period. This is more than Erling Haaland in the same time frame.
3. Messi was named Man of the Match in 5 of Argentina’s 7 matches at the World Cup. No player in World Cup history has ever done this.
4. The 36-year-old superstar became the first player to score in the group stage, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals at the same World Cup tournament.
5. Messi won the Golden Ball award thanks to his performance in Qatar and thereby became the first player in history to win this award twice (in 2014 and 2022).
6. Only Kylian Mbappe (8 goals, 2022) and Ronaldo (8 goals, 2002) have scored more goals in a World Cup campaign than Messi (7 goals, Qatar 2022) in the last 12 World Cups, dating back to 1974.
7. Messi is the best player in the Champions League throughout the 2022/2023 season according to WhoScored’s average match rating. The 36-year-old has an average rating of 7.86, higher than any other player.
8. In the domestic football tournament, Messi made 197 situations leading to shots in the 2022/2023 season. In Europe’s top 5 leagues, only Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes has done more with 219 times.
Messi is still scoring goals regularly.
9. Messi also made 35 plays that led to goals for PSG, more than any other player in Europe in the 2022/2023 season.
10. Former PSG player performed 102 successful dribbles in the domestic football tournament. Only Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior surpassed Messi in this statistic in the recent season with 112 successful attempts.
11. No player in the top 5 European leagues has created more goals than Messi. In Ligue 1, the Argentine player made 16 assists. Messi also has a higher xA (expected assists) than any other player in Europe.
12. In all competitions, Messi scored on average every 89 minutes for PSG, scoring 21 goals and 20 assists throughout the season.
Thanh Vu | 20:24 October 20, 2023
