Lionel Messi has announced that the FIFA World Cup 2022 final on Sunday will be the last World Cup match he features in. Messi’s Argentina takes on France in the highly anticipated World Cup final. The Lusail Stadium in Qatar will host the showpiece event on December 18, 2022.
Messi will go toe-to-toe against his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe in the final clash. Mbappe has been sensational this World Cup. The French attacker has scored five goals. Messi and Mbappe are the joint top goalscorers in this World Cup.
Messi, however, has never won the World Cup Golden Boot before. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has represented his country five times at the World Cup. In the previous four editions, Messi scored six goals. All of those goals were scored in the group stages. His goal against Australia in the round of 16 in this World Cup was his first-ever knockout stage goal. He went on to score against the Netherlands in the quarter-final and again against Croatia in the semi-final.
7 games 🏟
4 goals ⚽
1 assist 🅰
1 Golden Ball trophy 🏆2014 was Lionel Messi’s best #FIFAWorldCup, but could #Qatar2022 surpass that? 👀 pic.twitter.com/qWeiC0GmUn
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 11, 2022
In 2014, Messi and Argentina played in the World Cup final that was won by Germany. Mario Gotze’s extra-time winner saw the Germans win the final 1-0. Messi won the Golden Ball (the best player in the tournament) that year. The trend continued in 2018 as another runner-up, Luka Modric, won the Golden Ball that year.
Can Lionel Messi finally win the FIFA World Cup Golden Boot in 2022?
Messi has already broken a number of records this World Cup. He will break another just by stepping onto the pitch in the final on Sunday. It will be his 26th World Cup appearance. As of now, he is tied with German legend Lothar Matthäus at 25.
Messi is joint top scorer (5) and top assister (3) at the World Cup so far 😮
Never ceases to amaze 👏 pic.twitter.com/wZ96GLhDRh
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 13, 2022
35-year-old Messi became the oldest man to score five goals in a single FIFA World Cup campaign after his penalty against Croatia. The former Barcelona forward leads the way in multiple statistics in this World Cup: Goals (5 – level with Kylian Mbappe), Assists (3 – level with Harry Kane, Antoine Greizmann, and Bruno Fernandes), Shots (27), Shots on target (14), Expected goals (4.75), Take-ons (36), Chances created (18), Fouls drawn (20). He also bagged the most MOM awards (4).
Stats in this World Cup-
⚽ Most goals: Messi
🎯 Most assists: Messi
🔥 Most shots: Messi
⚡ Most chances created: Messi pic.twitter.com/J5ZQsFFFzS— Barça Worldwide (@BarcaWorldwide) December 16, 2022
Both the PSG stars, Messi and Mbappe, will be looking to score more goals and win the coveted prize that was won by England’s Harry Kane in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It is likely that whoever wins the World Cup will also take the Golden Boot home as the goals they score can be the decider of the match.