Lionel Messi leading Argentina to World Cup repeat would make him greatest athlete ever
In this, his last men’s World Cup, Lionel Messi no longer really has anything to accomplish.
From an individual perspective, Messi has the most Ballon d’Ors ever. Eight to be exact. No one else, not even his supposed peer Cristiano Ronaldo, has more than five. With 414 assists and counting, and 565 goals and counting, he has the most and second-most, respectively, of all time. He is the only player to ever win the Golden Ball, awarded to the tournament’s best player, in two separate World Cups. Not even the iconic Pelé, the pioneering Brazilian man Messi is most often compared to, managed to achieve that.
At a team-wide level, Messi is peerless. Four separate Champions League wins. Ten La Liga titles, two Ligue 1 titles, and even a throw-in MLS Cup victory near his playing career twilight. For his native Argentina, two Copa America victories and, of course, that legendary 2022 World Cup triumph, which cements his place atop history more than anything else.
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For all intents and purposes, Messi is the greatest scorer, playmaker, and winner ever. Everything he touches turns to gold. It always has. He could do the unthinkable and walk away mid-World Cup this summer, and his legacy as an all-time athlete would still remain secure.
But that’s the thing. It doesn’t seem like the 38-year-old living legend is done. If anything, it kind of seems like world No. 1-ranked Argentina, led by its sparkling talisman, has a real chance to repeat as men’s World Cup champions. If Messi manages to take Argentina to that hallowed repeat in his international swan song, something that’s only ever been done two times before, the last of which happened for Pelé’s Brazil over six decades ago?
I would have seen enough. Messi would no longer only be the greatest pure athlete of his generation. I would consider him the greatest athlete of all time. Full stop. Yes, better than Serena Williams at her powerful peak. Yes, better than Simone Biles at her most graceful. Yes, better than LeBron James at his explosive best. Yes, better than Tom Brady at his most cerebral. Yes, better than Shohei Ohtani at his most inevitable. Yes, better than Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt at their fastest. Better than all of them. Everyone, everything, everywhere, all at once.
Messi would stand alone. A men’s World Cup repeat, which is supposed to feel impossible in the modern era, would be the ultimate cherry on top of Messi’s encyclopedic resume that no one else can touch. It is the quintessential unicorn achievement we have in sports today.
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But that’s the magic of Messi as he nears the sunset of his international career.
I used to think I would personally never see a repeat men’s World Cup champion. Too much has to break in your favor. You and your country have to overcome so much while staying together, without losing momentum between the two distinct iterations of your team. And in a field featuring a monster 48 nations these days? Oh, please. Talk about parity. For me, repeating in this tournament now is like summitting Mount Everest without the trusted expertise and guidance of an experienced sherpa. It should be so far-fetched that you can’t even seriously ponder the possibility.
Messi is making me reconsider what’s possible in real time. If he takes Argentina to soccer’s tallest summit on two straight tries, I will know that I will likely have never seen a better, more polished, more exceptional athlete in my lifetime.
A legend of legends. An icon of icons. A GOAT of GOATs. Truly, one of one.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Lionel Messi is clear GOAT of sports if Argentina repeats World Cup win
