Scorer & creator: Lionel Messi could complete horic individual achievement in World Cup final
Individual glory may be the farthest thing on Lionel Messi’s mind come Sunday, as Argentina take on France in his second World Cup final, in a bid for the 35-year-old to win the only elusive title missing from a hall-of-fame career. Yet, as Messi’s inspirational performances have carried his side to the final, his individual stats have risen.
The Argentine now has the opportunity to become the first player to be the top scorer of a World Cup – the winner of the famous Golden Boot – as well as top asser. It is a feat that a few have come close to – most recently Thomas Muller at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa where he was joint-top scorer and asser, winning the golden boot due to lesser games played, but missing out on top-asser as Kaka had played lesser games than him.
Argentina’s Diego Maradona also came close during their triumph in 1986, he was the top asser with five, but his five goals came up short of England striker Gary Linekar’s six in the race for the golden boot.
The race for the two titles has heated up, and will be even more exciting in the final, as each of the top contenders will be playing in the summit clash. Messi is the joint top-scorer with five goals alongside Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe. Olivier Giroud and Julian Alvarez are also in the running with four. The Argentine skipper is joint-top asser with three, alongside Harry Kane, Bruno Fernandes, and Antoine Griezmann,Subscriber Only StoriesPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
In case of a tie, the tiebreaker is fewer games played, and since that is likely to be identical since the main protagons are playing the final, it will be decided fewer minutes played.
Top scorers at the 2022 FIFA World Cup:
Kylian Mbappe – 5 (six games, 477 minutes)Lionel Messi – 5 (six games, 570 minutes)Olivier Giroud – 4 (five games, 383 minutes)Julian Alvarez – 4 (six games, 364 minutes)
Top assers at the 2022 FIFA World Cup:
Bruno Fernandes – 3 (four games, 357 minutes)Harry Kane – 3 (five games, 402 minutes)Antoine Greizmann – 3 (six games, 467 minutes)Lionel Messi – 3 (six games, 570 minutes)
