On December 18, 2022, Lionel Messi, without exaggeration, won the most important trophy of his career, namely the title of World Champion. Looking at his football scores, you can see that he achieved a lot of personal statistical records, but at the level of national teams for a long time he was unlucky. Only in 2021 finally won the Copa América, and the World Cup was conquered only at the second attempt. Messi and team lost their first final in 2014. Lionel is compared to Diego Maradona, and now he has surpassed him in every aspect.
The main statistical parameter for an attacking player, namely goals, is now in favor of Messi, as he scored 13 goals. That’s more than Maradona and Batistuta had. In terms of assists with Diego at the World Cup is equal, while the total number of strokes in all tournaments is also for Messi. Maradona still holds the record for the most strokes in a single tournament, 53 at the 1986 World Cup.
There is no question about the performance in the most important games, namely the playoffs. Both in 2014 and in 2022, Messi proved to be a true leader and captain. Looking at the site where there are football stats, as well as counting scores from the World Cup 2022, you can also see Leo’s stats in the World Cup playoffs, and it’s great – 5 goals. It is also worth mentioning goals scored in the penalty shootout, which don’t go into the overall statistics, but also impact on the result.
Comparing Messi and Maradona in all World Cups
Diego Maradona played in four World Cups. In 1982, he scored 2 goals in 5 games, and the team was knocked out by the Brazilians in the second group stage. Tournament victory in 1986 brought a statistic of 5 goals and 5 assists in 7 games. And to find out who exactly Maradona scored on the website, where there is a livescore yesterday and other archival statistics. In 1990, Diego succeeded in giving two assists in seven games. In 1994 he played two matches, scored a goal plus an assist, but then came the well-known story with the disqualification.
Lionel Messi, in turn, has a great performance, which can be seen from the games in the national team:
- In 2006, there were 3 matches and a goal plus an assist. The national team was knocked out in the quarterfinals.
- In 2020 there was only one assist in 5 games and again flying in the quarterfinals.
- In 2014, he managed to play a maximum of 7 matches and scored 4+1.
- In 2018, Messi played 4 matches and scored 1+2.
- The most successful was the 2022 World Cup, when he managed to score 7 goals and 3 assists in 7 games.
If you look at what Leo’s performance said yesterday at the World Cup, which is checked on sites with livescore, it turns out that Messi had a perfect tournament, scoring in all matches of the playoffs of the World Cup.
