He was the top player on this list for the 2022 World Cup, and he delivered in every way, leading Argentina to their first World Cup trophy since 1986, winning the Golden Ball (Player of the Tournament) in the process, and cementing his legacy as the greatest player of his generation and arguably the greatest of all time. Many suspected that fairytale ending may be his final game for his country, but Messi was not done yet.
After eight Ballon d’Ors, four Champions League titles, ten La Liga titles, Olympic gold, two Copa America trophies, a record 192 career La Liga assists, over 900 career goals (a record 672 for Barcelona, the most for any player for a single club) and finally a World Cup, Messi decided to “take his talents to South Beach” (or Ft. Lauderdale).
Now, after parts of four seasons in MLS, Messi is back for his record-tying sixth, and almost certainly final, World Cup.
Does he have one more magical run in him?
Messi enters this World Cup with 198 caps and 116 international goals. He is 38, turns 39 during the tournament, and remains the player every opponent will build its defensive plan around.
The club form is still there. Messi has not just been coasting through MLS as a ceremonial star. Heading into the World Cup break he has a league-leading 20 goal contributions (12 goals and 8 assists) in 14 matches for Inter Miami. MLS is obviously not near the same competition level as the top European leagues, but Messi is still putting on a weekly show every time he laces them up. The burst is reduced, the defensive work is managed, the minutes have to be protected, but the final-third brain and quality is very much intact.
Messi is no longer the player who has to carry the ball past four defenders every time Argentina need a solution. He does not need to be. As proven in 2022, this Argentina team is deeper, younger and more balanced than the teams that once asked him to perform miracles just to drag them through a tournament. Julián Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Rodrigo De Paul, Nico Paz and others give Lionel Scaloni real options around him. Messi is still the center of gravity, but he does not have to be the whole solar system anymore.
The expanded field in this World Cup may also give Messi some opportunities to rest if Argentina can take care of their business early in the group stage (not that he will necessarily agree to that).
Tactically, Argentina can use Messi all around the front line. The important thing is not where he starts, but where he receives. If Messi gets the ball between the lines with runners ahead of him, Argentina become terrifying very quickly. He can still disguise the slipped pass, still bend the free kick, still play the extra touch that freezes a center back, and still finish with the best in the world.
There is a tradeoff, of course. Argentina have to defend around him. They have to manage the spaces he leaves when he stays high. They have to decide how much of the attack should still flow through him versus how much should run through the next generation. That balance may define the tournament. Too much Messi dependency, and Argentina risk becoming predictable. Too little, and they are ignoring the one player in the field who can still see passes no one else sees.
For Messi the legacy question is different now than it was in 2022. Back then, everything was framed around what Messi still lacked. Now there is nothing missing. This is bonus time, but bonus time with stakes. Argentina are trying to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to repeat as World Cup champions. Messi is trying to add one last chapter to a story that already had the perfect ending. With 13 goals and eight assists in the competition, Messi is three goals short of Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record.
That is why he belongs this high. Messi may no longer be the best player in the world every week. But no player in the tournament carries a bigger emotional charge, and very few still carry a greater capacity to decide a match with one touch. If Argentina repeat, this becomes one of the great late-career epilogues in sports. If they fall short, it is still one more chance to watch the greatest player of his era try to bend a World Cup to his will.