Lionel Messi’s Astounding Achievements: Copa America Win, 7 Ballon d’Or Wins, La Liga Records, and More
Lionel Messi’s Current Achievements
“It’s Messi’s universe, and we’re simply living in it,” one commentator once said. Lionel Messi has always been at the center of the discussion over who is the greatest player of all time—and deservedly so. What he has accomplished at such a young age has taken some athletes their entire careers to achieve, if they even did. And undoubtedly, including some of the greats are among them.
The icon has won numerous honors to validate the fact of being the best player out there. With his national team, Lionel Messi has finally won a Copa América recently. He also won a U-20 World Cup, a Gold Medal at the Beijing Olympic Games, and was a FIFA World Cup Finalist with Argentina. That said, Lionel Messi’s personal achievements are what make him stand out among every other football player.
He won the Ballon d’Or winner 7 times bypassing everyone. He won a FIFA World Player award, The Best Award, 6 European Golden Shoes, and a Laureus World Sports Award.
The list doesn’t end there for the football legend. He also won 7 Pichichi in La Liga, 9 MVP in La Liga, 6 Champions Top Scorer, a Bravo Award, a FIFA FIFPro, a 2014 World Cup Golden Ball, two Men’s Player of the Year, a Golden Boy award, the MVP at Copa America, and 4 Onze d’Or.
One would be amazed by the success Messi has managed to achieve since the start of his career at FC Barcelona. During his time at Barcelona, Lionel Andres Messi has probably earned the title of the best footballer of all time. In 17 seasons with the club, he racked up 778 matches, 672 goals, and 305 assists.
Messi broke the La Liga goal record on November 27, 2014, as he surpassed Telmo Zarra’s total of 251 goals. He scored 474 goals in the 520 La Liga games he played with Barcelona. That translates to a median of 0.91 goals/game.
Messi’s talent extends beyond scoring goals to assisting his Barcelona teammates in doing so. Lionel was the architect of 30 goals and 25 assists in 33 games in the 2018-19 La Liga season. Another La Liga record was set by the Copa America winner, who had 193 assists.
When he won the Supercopa de Espana in 2018, he passed former teammate Andres Iniesta for the record of most trophies won by a Barcelona player. In his stint with the Blaugrana, he became the club’s all-time most decorated player.
He was the first non-Spanish player to win 10 La Liga championships, 4 UEFA Champions League championships, 3 Club World Cups, 7 Copa del Rey cups, and 8 Supercopa de Espana. Messi also holds the record for most titles won by a single team, with 35. He even surpassed Ryan Giggs’ record of 34 Manchester United trophies.
The El Clasico and the Barcelona Derby are indeed the 2 most important games on the Barcelona season schedule. Their annual battles with Real Madrid are among the most-watched matchups in the world. In both games, Messi has the most goals for the 26-time La Liga champions.
Messi scored 26 strikes in the ‘El Classico,’ followed by 25 strikes in the ‘Derbi Barcelona.’ Among his most iconic El Clasico goals are his first hat-trick in the encounter, his solo goal in the 2010-11 Champions League semifinals, and his late-game strike in the 2016/17 La Liga season. With his classic shirt celebration, he made his goal legendary.
One of his most stellar performances is scoring the most goals in a single season (in official European competitions). Messi’s 2011-12 season has to go down in European football history as the best. The Argentine scored goals for the sheer joy of it, making a mockery of opposing defenses.
He scored 50 goals in the league, 14 in the UEFA Champions League, three in the Copa del Rey, and six in other competitions. In total, he scored 73 goals in 60 appearances across all competitions. Messi surpassed Gerd Muller’s 67 goals of the 1972-73 season.
In La Liga, Messi holds the record for most hat-tricks scored. In the league, he had 36 hat-tricks, averaging one per 14 games. In a match against Real Madrid in 2007, he scored his first hat-trick. His goals were key in Barcelona’s 3-3 tie with the defending league and European champions. In February 2020, Messi scored his final hat-trick against Eibar.
In such a debate, the claims for and against each player would almost invariably result in a deadlock. Few athletes have accomplished more in their whole careers than Messi, and time is in his favor.
He’s in a universe of his own just now, and he’s on the brink of joining the legends. In fact, he’s already there long ahead of everyone else. One thing is for sure, the world of football will never forget the name of Lionel Messi.
