Since 2005, 85 players have appeared in the FIFPRO Men’s World 11 – none more than Messi, who has been voted in 17 times
Lionel Messi is very good at football. This much is known. There are the endless accolades: eight Ballons d'Or, 850 goals, 46 career trophies. And then there are the fun bits in between. The drops of the shoulder, the left footed curlers, that one pass against the Netherlands in the World Cup in which he did not look up once – but knew exactly where Nahuel Molina would be.
The GOAT case is well established at this point. And his 17 FIFPRO Men's World 11 spots underscore now just how great he is, but for how long. Since 2005, 85 players have appeared in the Men’s World 11 – none more than Messi. And while the 2024 list is not yet final – it will be revealed Dec. 9 – Messi is again one of the nominees. How has this all happened for the Argentine? GOAL takes a look.
The beginnings
It was no secret that Messi was going to be the next big thing. Coaches from La Masia, Barca's famed youth academy, had seen this coming for years. There was a kid from Argentina who needed special growth hormones to make it to 5-7 – with cleats on. But he was always going to be special. He may not have cracked the FIFPRO 11 until 2007, but it was clear in 2005 that something special was happening.
On Aug. 24, 2005, Barca hosted Juventus for the Joan Gamper trophy – a glorified preseason friendly. Juve won on penalties after the two sides played out a 2-2 draw in normal time. That day a diminutive right winger – wearing Nike boots – ran the show. He assisted Barca's first goal, and set Camp Nou alight. Just 18 at the time, Messi had arrived.
It took a couple years, of course, for the stratospheric launch. But even before he was a regular, there was a sense that Messi could be massive.
AdvertisementAFPThe 'breakout' season
Can it really be considered a breakout season if there was never any doubt that a footballer would be world-class? Maybe not, but Messi went about his meteoric rise all the same. He broke into the Barcelona first team for good in the 2006-07 season.
Then 19, he turned in quality performance after quality performance. In 23 La Liga starts, he tallied 17 goal contributions, including a hat-trick against Real Madrid (becoming the first player to bag three in El Clasico in 12 years in the process.) His first FIFPRO World 11 acknowledgment came after that. And from there, he never dropped out.
Perhaps the most important moment in his young career, though, was the promotion of a former Barca midfielder through the coaching ranks. Pep Guardiola had been a stalwart for the Blaugrana as a player, and was proving himself as a coach. And he was the perfect manager for Messi. After Frank Rijkaard was let go following a trophy-less 2007-08 campaign, Guardiola came in.
The results were immediate. Barca won the treble in his first season in charge – becoming the first team in Spanish history to do so.
AFP100 goals in a year
The rest of the story is well known. From right winger, to false nine, Messi thrived under Guardiola. They won 14 trophies across four seasons, becoming the envy of Europe with their fluid, innovative style. The Spanish manager constantly fiddled with his side, but Messi was always the focal point. If all else failed, give him the ball and things would happen.
It is fair to debate which version of Messi is the best. There are certainly appeals to all of them, from frantic teenager to cerebral veteran. Statistically, though, the most effective version of the great Argentine was the one from Feb. 19, 2012 to Feb. 16, 2013. It was an uncharacteristically dry year for Barca, who were still wavering after Guardiola's departure.
For Messi, though, it was record breaking. Over 363 days, Messi scored 100 goals and added 21 assists. The numbers over that period are staggering: 68 games played, nine hat-tricks, 21 braces, 10 goals in one week. Everything came together, at least in a statistical sense.
AFPThose around him
Messi has never been a one-man team, though. It helped, of course, that he had Ronaldinho, then the reigning Ballon d'Or winner, playing on the opposite wing during his breakout year. And when he left, there was always quality in the side. First, it was Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry – the trio combining for 100 goal contributions in Guardiola's first campaign in charge. Later came David Villa and Pedro.
Then, in 2014, one of the most deadly attacking trios in football history formed. Luis Suarez had just come off one of the better campaigns in Premier League history when he joined Barca in August 2014, while Neymar had just shown signs that he had found his feet in Catalonia. The three were unstoppable for two years, winning a treble under Luis Enrique in 2015. Admittedly, they probably spent too little time together.
But it wasn't just the attacking talent. Messi spent large parts of his career surrounded by some of the most talented midfielders and defenders out there. He operated in front of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets for almost 10 years. And there are the others: Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Jordi Alba, et al. Even his latter-day Argentina teams have been packed with Angel Di Maria, Alexis Mac Allister and Rodrigo De Paul – some of the best connective tissue around.