Lionel Messi has arguably been the best player of the 2026 World Cup.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has been integral to Argentina‘s run to the World Cup Final. And they’ll be hoping he can turn up once more to lead them to glory yet again.
Messi won the Golden Ball in 2022 as he helped Argentina win their first World Cup in 36 years, also completing his football collection. In doing so, he became the first player to win the Golden Ball more than once. He could almost become the first person to win it in back-to-back tournaments, surely cementing himself as the Greatest Of All Time.
Lionel Messi’s excellent World Cup
Importance for Argentina
Among teams to have scored at least five goals at the World Cup this summer, only one was more reliant on a single player. Kylian Mbappe has been directly involved in 11 of France’s 16 goals, contributing to 69%. Messi has contributed to 63% of Argentina’s 19 goals, scoring or assisting 12.
Messi is at the heart of everything Argentina do. Their gameplan is to get the ball to Messi when they can, wherever he is on the pitch. And every player looks to protect Messi, as shown by the reactions to early tackles on him by England. Messi has had 527 touches at the World Cup so far, the third-most of any Argentina player. The only two ahead of him are Leandro Paredes (573) and Enzo Fernandez (569), both of whom will constantly look to feed Messi.
The type of Messi’s involvement is further shown by his passing numbers. Despite having the third-most touches of any Argentina player, he ranks sixth for his 315 passes attempted. While he does link up with his teammates, Messi is very much the end goal — whether that’s through creating chances or shooting. A lot of his passes have come in the final third. He’s attempted 186 final third passes at the World Cup so far, the most of any Argentina player. Only Fernandez (153) has completed more than Messi’s 146.
Fortunately, Argentina haven’t had to completey run Messi into the ground, like other teams have with their most-important players. But he has still been one of their most-used players. Only Emiliano Martinez (690) and Alexis Mac Allister (629) have played more minutes for Argentina at this World Cup than Messi’s 620. Messi has started all but one game, coming off the bench in their final group match against Jordan.
Of course, Messi has also been able to preserve his energy in the way that he plays. At 39, Messi isn’t spending the game running around the pitch. He walks himself into key areas, showing short bursts to make the most difference.
All-round threat
Ahead of the World Cup Final, Messi has been directly involved in more goals than any other player at the tournament. He sits joint-top of the Golden Boot charts, level with Mbappe on eight goals.
Messi has taken more shots that any other player at the World Cup this tournament, with 34 to date. That’s one more than Mbappe. It’s a similar case for shots on target, albeit in the reverse. Only Mbappe (19) has had more shots on target than Messi’s 18 at the World Cup this summer.
Messi leads for Expected Goals with 4.72 across his seven matches, and has the third-highest post-shot xG at the World Cup — 5.36. The names ahead of him are Mbappe (7.0) and Erling Haaland (5.36). Of course, Messi has done all of this while missing two penalties.
The 39-year-old has been flexing his creative muscles too. Only Michael Olise (five) has provided more assists than Messi (four) at the World Cup. Both players still have a game to play, but it’s not inconceivable that Messi overtakes Olise. All four of Messi’s goals have come in the knockout stages, in each of his past three matches. He got the comeback against Egypt underway with an assist, and set up a goal against Switzerland. And Messi was key to the comeback against England, setting up both goals.
It’s a run that has been coming. Messi has created more chances than any other player at the World Cup this summer. His 25 chances created is eight more than any other player. He also leads the way with his eight big chances created, three more than second-placed Olise.
When it comes to Expected Assists, Messi sits in the top group again. His 2.57 xA across the World Cup is second only to Yan Diomande’s 2.86. And he leads for his 1.04 set-piece xA. There’s been no stopping him.
More history on the cards?
Going into the 2026 World Cup Final, Lionel Messi is favourite to win the Ballon d’Or. It appears to be a straight shootout between him and Lamine Yamal, with the winner depending on who lifts the World Cup. Should Messi win, it would be a record-extending ninth Ballon d’Or, moving him four clear of closest rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
But Messi is odds-on favourite to take home the World Cup Golden Ball. As mentioned, only one player has won the Golden Ball at multiple World Cups. That man is Lionel Messi. Naturally, no player has every won it in back-to-back tournaments. It looks like Messi will be doing that too. Messi won his first Golden Ball at the 2014 World Cup, a consolation prize for Argentina’s defeat to Germany in the final. It was a strange award too, as Messi hadn’t performed to his lofty expectations.
But the Golden Ball in Qatar was definitely deserved. Much like 2026, Messi was the heartbeat of Argentina’s side as they finally ended a long wait for World Cup glory.
A stellar performance against Spain could see Messi take home the Man of the Match award. Should he do so, he’d be the first player to be named Man of the Match in two World Cup Finals. Granted, the award doesn’t have a long history, first officially handed out in 2002, and the pool of players to have participated in two finals is quite small. But it would still be some feat.
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