'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
#3. Most international goals by a South American player
Before Lionel Messi was born, Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele) reigned supreme in South America, scoring a hatful of goals to become the highest goalscorer for any South American nation. Pele was picked by many as the greatest football player of all time for his immense contribution to Brazilian football.
Trending
Before Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Pele held many of the world’s goalscoring records, but he has now seen a good number of his records shattered. One such record is the record for most goals scored by a South American player on the international stage.
Pele scored 77 goals in 91 appearances for the Selecao in his career, helping them to win the FIFA World Cup three times. Lionel Messi smashed Pele's record in style to become the highest-scoring South American player of all time.
He scored a hat-trick for Argentina in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Bolivia to become the outright top scorer in international football from South America. Messi has gone on to score 80 goals in 158 games for Argentina since his debut.
#2. Most goals in a single league
Lionel Messi played in the Spanish La Liga for the entirety of his career before making the move to PSG in the summer of 2021. Messi left an indelible mark on the league, scoring an incredible number of goals during his time at Barcelona.
Before Lionel Messi, Pele had scored the most goals in a single league, with 469 in the Brazilian Serie A. In 2021, Messi bested that total as he scored 474 goals for Barcelona in La Liga between 2005 and 2021.
Messi's tally of 474 La Liga goals was also the highest number of league goals a player has scored for a single side.
#1. First man to win the Ballon d'Or in three separate decades
Winning the Ballon d'Or for an unprecedented seventh time in 2021 made Lionel Messi the first man in history to pick up the award in three separate decades.
Lionel Messi won his first Ballon d'Or in 2009 as a 22-year-old and his seventh at 34 years of age in 2021, thus winning the award in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. His nearest competitor for such longevity is Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the award five times in total over two decades: the 2000s and 2010s.
