As Lionel Messi’s Illustrious career nears ending with him formally announcing his retirement from international football, he continues to prove almost to a fault how he is arguably the greatest footballer of all time.

He has won a lot of individual and team awards that tower in comparison to his 5’7 build. 

Here are some of them:

His famous goal vs Getafe 

In 2007, 19 year old Messi recreated Diego Maradona’s famous solo world cup goal. From the halfway line, he dribbled past what looked like the entire getafe team including the goalkeeper then chipped it over trailing defenders with his weak foot.

Hatrick vs Real Madrid 

Again in 2007, Messi also scored his first senior hat-trick in a 3-3 El-classico draw. He rescued a point for Barcelona after a teammate got sent off at halftime against Real Madrid. 

2009 UCL Final 

In the 2009 Champions League final, he beat Van der Saar with a looping header to seal the win against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Barcelona won the treble that season and Messi was at the center of it all.

Solo run vs Madrid 

In 2011, Messi did it again vs the Galacticos. Another solo run past four defenders at the Santiago Bernabéu in the Champions League semi-final.

Most goals in a calendar year record

In 2012, he broke Gerd Müller’s record 85 goals for most goals in a calendar year with 91 goals. 

The Bernabéu win and celebration

In 2017, scoring a 92nd-minute winner against Real Madrid (again). While the match winning broke the hearts of the home team, Messi won their respect and admiration after holding up his shirt up to their fans in celebration.

Messi is La Liga’s all time top scorer with 474 goals 

He has the most Pichichi’s (La Liga top scorer award), he is also Barcelona’s top scorer overall with 672 goals (120 in the Champion’s League)

Copa America win

After multiple attempts resulting in a few losses and a lot of heartbreak, in 2021 Messi won his first major international trophy (Copa America) with Argentina by defeating Brazil 1-0 in the final.

Argentina’s World Cup win

In 2022, he captained Argentina to win their 3rd world cup. He scored 7 goals and converted a penalty in the shootout to lift the trophy in Qatar.

2026 World Cup

2026 came with a lot of doubt regarding whether or not he would play in the world cup due to his age (39). After eventually deciding to play, he lead the tournament in goals scored but unfortunately fell short in the final game losing 1-0 to Spain.