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After his most recent victory, Lionel Messi became just the ninth player to win the World Cup, Champions League, and Ballon d’Or.
Argentina overcame France on penalties in the World Cup final on Sunday at Lusail Stadium in Qatar, giving seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi his first World Cup victory.
With the World Cup victory, Messi becomes the most decorated player in football history.
At Lusail Stadium on Sunday, Messi, 35, led Argentina to their first World Cup title in 36 years by defeating France on penalties. Messi scored a brace, while Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick in an unusual and stressful match in Qatar.
Over 13 years, Messi has won the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or, but he has had to wait to win the global championship.
After losing to Germany 1-0 in the 2014 championship match, this was his fifth and final opportunity to win the prestigious trophy at the tournament in Qatar.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward has a record seven Ballon d’Or victories, four Champions League titles, and most recently, a World Cup victory.
After his performance in Qatar, where he scored seven goals and contributed three assists, Messi is the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or the coming year. Only eight other athletes have achieved all three feats.
The first to accomplish so was an Englishman, Bobby Charlton, who in 1966 defeated Germany in the World Cup.
After finally finishing an incredible career with Argentina’s first World Cup since 1986, Lionel Messi decided to prolong the celebration by delaying his retirement from international football for at least a little bit.
Messi had declared that Qatar 2022 would be his final World Cup, and there is no sign that he will play beyond the immediate future.
But his manager, Scaloni, made it plain that if he made himself available for the 2026 edition, the door would be open for him.
He stated, “We need to reserve him a slot for the next World Cup. He will be here with us if he wants to keep playing.
He has every right to choose what he wants to do with his career and whether he wants to continue playing.
It’s a real pleasure to mentor him. He communicates with his teammates in a way that is unmatched and beyond anything I have ever seen.”
In his post-game press conference, Scaloni, who was clearly emotional, noted that Argentina’s comebacks after being twice pushed back from the verge of victory were largely due to their ability to remain positive.
