Lionel Messi's last dance at the 2022 World Cup is must-watch compelling sports drama for the ages.
The biggest trophy in football remains the only one that eludes Messi, and at the age of 35 this is surely his last chance to lift it.
Argentina had been talked up as pre-tournament favourites and it's not difficult to see why. With Messi as the captain and leader, they won the Copa America last summer and qualified for Qatar 2022 in style, approaching the tournament in superb form, unbeaten in 36 matches.
Despite taking an early lead, they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to minnows Saudi Arabia in their group stage opener, which put their chances of getting out of the group, let alone triumphing in Qatar, in serious doubt.
However, they've bounced back, registering well-deserved back-to-back victories against Mexico and Poland. As ever, Messi has been absolutely integral to their strong performances.
“I learned it recently, I didn't know it. It's a pleasure to be able to continue to achieve these kinds of records,” said Messi, when it was pointed out to him that he's now made more World Cup appearances than Argentina icon Diego Maradona.
“I think Diego would be super happy for me because he always showed me a lot of affection, he was always happy when things went well for me.”
Another reason why many have talked up Argentina as potential winners has been the form of their talisman. After a relatively quiet debut season with PSG, Messi has looked back to his best in the 2022-23 season so far, and seems to be carrying that form into this mid-season World Cup.
Here are 14 statistics that underline just how good Messi has been of late.
– Against Poland, Messi became the oldest player on record (since 1966) to register five or more chances created and completed five or more dribbles in a World Cup match. The previous oldest? Maradona against Nigeria in 1994 (via @OptaJoe)
– Only Maradona has created more chances in the history of the World Cup. Messi has created 63. Maradona has created 67.
– With his goal against Mexico, Messi extended his goalscoring run for Argentina to six successive games (12 goals scored) – his best scoring streak on the international stage. He missed the opportunity to extend that run to seven games with his missed penalty against Poland.
– In his last 10 appearances for club and country, Messi has scored seven goals and registered seven assists.
– Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, the 35-year-old has scored 19 goals and registered 16 assists in 25 appearances for club and country.
– That works out as a goal every 112 minutes, an assist every 133 minutes, and a direct contribution (goals and assists combined) every 61 minutes.
– With his goals against Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League at the end of October, Messi became the first player from a club in Europe's top five leagues to hit double figures for both goals and assists this season.
– Messi sits top for assists in Europe's top five leagues this season (10).
– Only his PSG team-mate Neymar (20) and Man City superstar Erling Haaland (21) have more combined goals and assists than Messi (17) in Europe's major leagues this season.
– He's completed 10 more dribbles (47) than any other player in Europe's major leagues this season.
– In the World Cup so far, only his Argentina team-mate Angel Di Maria has completed more successful dribbles (nine – Messi has eight)
– Only Antoine Griezmann (11) has registered more key passes (the final pass before a team-mate shoots at goal) than Messi (nine) in the Qatar 2022 group stage.
– Messi is joint-top with his PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappe in terms of expected goals at the World Cup so far (2.4xG), and only Mbappe has registered more shots on target (seven to Messi's six).
– The Argentina captain sits top at the World Cup for progressive passes (via FBref), having registered 26, four more than any other player – that's defined as a pass that moves the ball 10 yards (30 feet) closer to the goal than it's been recently, or any completed pass into the opponent's penalty area,