They discussed Argentina's World Cup hopes after they beat Italy. There is a time and a place for it. Messi is turning 35 on Friday. The final year of Messi's contract with Paris Saint-Germain could be a significant one as he starts to wind down his career. There is no specific reason to suggest that Messi is thinking about calling it quits at the highest level, but given his age and contract situation, there is a chance that 2022-23 might be his final season at a major European club. - What does the future hold for Messi in 2023?
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After Barcelona's 1.2 billion debt prevented them from being able to offer him a new five-year contract, Lionel Messi moved to Paris in August 2021.
Having only represented one club from the age of 13, the transfer sent ructions through football with many wondering if a player of Messi's stature could adapt to a new environment.
In his first season in Paris, Messi had the worst single-season scoring rate of his entire career, despite his high output.
Messi scored 11 goals in 34 games, his lowest return on record and worst since 2007, when he scored 16 goals in 40 games.
It was better news on the assist front as Messi pitched in with 15 in all competition, though all of them came in the French league. He has averaged an assist rate of 20 in all comps over the course of his nine previous club seasons.
The 35th major club honour of Messi's career was added when he won the French title in his first season.
Argentina qualified for the World Cup in Qatar in good time and Messi wants to play in it.
Argentina hadn't lost a single match in 26 outings before the CON MEBOL game against Brazil, and since then they've remained perfect in six more games.
Messi and his teammates haven't lost a game since July of last year, when they were beaten 2-0 by Brazil in the semifinals of the Americas Cup. Argentina won their first major international honour in 28 years when they beat Brazil in the final of the 2021.
Messi has maintained an extremely high level of output for his country and, while his numbers may have dipped for Paris Saint-Germain, the forward's productivity in international football has improved. He has been putting up better statistics for Argentina than anyone else.
In just 1,759 minutes of football, Messi has collected two significant honours with his country, compared to the 5,487 minutes he spent on the field for Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi has scored more goals per 90 minutes for Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain than any other player.
The differences may be explained by the differing tactics used by his teams at club and international level, but the numbers seem to suggest that Messi enjoys more of the ball and is more effective when shooting, dribbling, creating chances and working off the ball.
It's understandable that productivity begins to tail off after a professional footballer retires in their 30s. Only a handful of players since 2010-11 have managed to amass a total of 20 or more goal contributions in a single season, despite the fact that Messi isn't the most footballer.
Only six veterans have done this in Europe's Big Five leagues, with the majority of them doing so in Italy.
Three players have reached 20 goal contributions in a single season on two occasions after turning 35 years old: Luca Toni (2013-14, 2014-15), Antonio Di Natale (2021-13, 2015).
The other players to manage it are Burak Yilmaz and Francesco Totti.
Messi has 38 senior titles to his name since making his debut for Barcelona in 2004.
Only one player has won more senior competitive trophies in that time and he just so happens to have played alongside Messi for most of it.
Messi came so close to winning the World Cup with Argentina that he lost to Germany in the final. It's more than likely that the last chance to correct that particular mistake will be in the state ofQatar.
Messi holds a wide array of records that are not likely to ever be surpassed.
These are not limited to.
The most official goals for a club are for Barcelona.
The most assists for a club were for Barcelona.
The most goals in a single season are for Barcelona.
A player has scored at least 30 goals in 13 consecutive seasons.
In El Clasico derby games against Real Madrid, the most goals, assists, and appearances were recorded.
There was a Guinness World Record for the top goal scorer in a single year.
And believe us, that is just the beginning of a much larger piece of art.
When Messi's contract with Paris Saint-Germain ends, Hislop is on board with his return to Barcelona.
The records kept by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics show that both Messi andRonaldo are close to joining the 500 League Goals club.
Heading into the 2022-23 campaign, Messi has 480 club goals to his credit, which puts him 17 goals behindRonaldo A hat trick by the Portugal international would make him the fifth player in the history of the game to score 500 goals.
Messi is only 13 goals away from becoming the second player in history to have scored 800 or more goals in official matches.
Messi has 86 goals for Argentina in comparison to 118 for Portugal, which is the current world record in men's football. Ali Daei is the only male who has broken 100.
Lionel Messi turns 35 today.
The man was born to win Ballon d'Ors 🏆 pic.twitter.com/UeYnWRCnr1
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 24, 2022
Messi was the second-oldest player to ever win the Ballon d'Or, at the age of 34 years, 158 days, and he was also the all-time leader with seven gongs to his name. He trails Messi in the all time list of European Golden Shoe wins, but he is his closest rival on that front.
It is not likely that Messi will be able to close the gap before he retires. Sir Stanley Matthews was 41 years old when he won the inaugural Ballon d'Or, so maybe there is more time left.
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