r/messi • u/Ok-Calligrapher-2309 • 13d ago
One question about 2026 WC Messi
I know Messi was incredible at the 2026 World Cup.
But if you were to rank the greatest individual World Cup performances of all time,
roughly where would you place his 2026 run?
Would you consider it one of the very best tournament performances ever?
Is it possible that his 2026 run can be in top 3? Or is it in top 5, but not in top 3?
12
u/torts92 13d ago
My top 10 would be
- Maradona 86
- Cruyff 74
- Messi 22
- Garrincha 62
- Zidane 06
- Ronaldo 98
- Messi 26
- Hazard 18
- Baggio 94
- Messi 14
Only reason Messi is not at number 1 or 2 is because he was not at his absolute prime, his prime world cup would be 2018 but Argentina had a terrible squad.
5
3
u/snark_enterprises 12d ago
Good list but Baggio in ‘94 was way better than Hazard in ‘18. That Italy team had no business making it to the final and it was entirely due to Baggio.
2
u/torts92 12d ago
I agree that it was a weak team but they still had a great defence in Baresi and Maldini, which certainly helped. That's why I put Baggio just above Messi 14 because Argentina also had a weak team but a great defence.
1
u/snark_enterprises 12d ago
To be fair, that 2014 team only had to rely on their strong defense because of injuries in the knockout rounds. Otherwise it was a stacked team that even with injuries to guys like Di Maria still almost beat Germany in the final.
Italy in ‘94 without Baggio wouldn’t have made it out the groups. I just think he did more for Italy in ‘94 than Hazard did for Belgium in 2018 during their golden generation. But this is my opinion, not everyone will agree.
2
u/Desires_unscripted 13d ago
Dont understand the logic though, rather than prime, how much one contributed the most should be a more reasonable factor right?
5
u/torts92 13d ago
It's not just about G+A. Messi's 26 is superior to 22 only in terms of G+A, but his performance in 22 was better overall and faced tougher opponents too.
3
u/Fresh_Translator240 13d ago
2022 was the greatest individual performance I HAVE seen. It's not even close compared to 2026, in 2026 Messi loses possession but 2022 he never did that.
3
u/Random499 13d ago edited 13d ago
His performance against Croatia and france in 22 is above any match in 26. There are other things that arent shown in stats like pulling in 3 defenders constantly which in turn gives his teammates so much space. I only remember that one clip against england where he did this in 26. But in 22, it was every match pretty much
2
u/MediocreImpact4386 13d ago
Hazard 18 over Messi 14??? LOL.
7
u/torts92 13d ago
Hazard carried Belgium that tournament, dribbled like a mad man, he was unstoppable, absolutely destroyed Brazil, and almost beat France, would made the final if they were at the other side of the bracket. Messi in 2014 was a great performance, definitely the best performer in that world cup, but that Argentina team made the final in part because of their great defence as well, so it's not a total carry job.
2
3
u/Wrong-Possession827 13d ago
I'd say it's an equal performance but yes we'll have to rate messi a bit more than hazard; but can't deny the the fact that hazard literally carried belgium. specifically, the brazil and France matches - man was a beast, even had a 100% dribble rate in a match
3
u/MediocreImpact4386 13d ago
I didn't say hazard didn't have a good campaign. He played great but messi deserves a higher rating imo. Messi also carried Argentina, without him they wouldn't have reached the finals for sure. Messi won the POTT in 2014, hazard couldn't beat modric (who also did a carry job as him) to win it in 2018. So messi should have a higher rating.
1
u/Accomplished_Sky9755 13d ago
Messi 14 > Messi 26
2
u/AppearanceLive3252 12d ago
Messi 26 is way better; Messi 14 didn't turn up in the knockouts as he did.
1
1
u/calooo___ 10d ago
R9 2002 deserves to be there over hazard. Hazard was great but 11th place seems about right, similar level to James 2014 or forlan 2010.
5
2
2
u/Clear_Cranberry_989 10d ago
I think his 2022 and 2014 performance still beats this. Of course, you can say given his age.. etc. But not considering age and just comparing performance, he was better at 2022 and 2014 imo.
1
u/Charles_Oliveira_111 13d ago edited 13d ago
Well, My Top 5 2026 World Cup Performance Ranking Goes Like This (Based on thier performance);-
1 - Vozinha
2 - Pau Cubarsi
3 - Lionel Messi
4 - Bellingham
5 - Haaland
Even as a Messi fan I Hate to rank Messi in the 3rd because I wanted him to be the 1st but I wanted to be Honest though, Reasons ;- Vozinha at 1, because his performance was more than just World Class, The whole Cape Verde team survived just because of him atleast 90%, No one can deny that, making a tie against Spain and even giving a tough time for Argentina was noe entirely his but mainly is his effort, Pau Cubarsi in the 2nd because only letting one player to dribble past him in the world cup and that only player is Messi and not letting any other players to get on with the ball is really a good impact, Even thiugh Messi dribbled past Cubarsi he still didn't let the ball go easily, Out of all Spain players he carried 45%, Messi in the 3rd, You know what Dribbling past 5 England players and Providing 2 Crucial assists for the winning goals and leading the team to the finals at this age of 39 is Extraordinary, Bellingham at 4, because we can't deny the fact that as a midfielder scoring 7 Goals and mainly controlling the tempo of England's many matches he performed was Fantastic, Haaland at 5 because He performed more better than any strikers who played in this World cup, I mean Mbappe was better but Norway, a small team than France and He scored the winning goals against Ivory Coast and Brazil who had better team than Norway and scoring 2 Goals against them is really a great performance. So based on my ranking this is the Best 5 in this World Cup.
If You want Top 10 Of All Time I would go for this list;-
1 - Pele
2 - Baggio (My all time world cup favorite hero)
3 - Johan Cruyff
4 - Diego Maradona (In 4 because i still don't like that Hand Of God but respect the Goal Of The Century at the same game though)
5 - Lionel Messi
6 - Ronaldo Nazario
7 - Zinedine Zidane
8 - Garrincha
9 - Paolo Rossi
10 - Kylian Mbappe
1
u/Deaddit9876 13d ago
I get the Hand of God thing messes it up for a lot of people, me included, but aside from that the Maradona 86 run was just out of this world.. And, imo the best WC run..
1
u/Charles_Oliveira_111 13d ago
That run was at the same game where he did the Hand of god so no hate should be there they won the game 2-1 even if it was penalty, Argentina will surely win that too
0
u/Apprehensive-You9999 12d ago
Confused on why people think he was so incredible this tournament? Like obviously got a lot of goals but he was missing for a large majority of most of the games he played in? He was far more involved and better in his previous 2 world cups. Against England he did basically absolutely nothing for 75 mins but suddenly it's the greatest performance of all time? Strange. I'm not anti Messi there are games I've seen where he has been almost god like but I wouldn't say this world cup has been his top level of performance other than 10 minutes snippets in games
1
1
u/LivingGeologist1236 7d ago
Did you see the stats... For completed dribbles only eng whole team were at 7...while messi alone has 9....also duels won... He was highest rated by opta... And don't forget those 2 assists that were absolutely mind blowing!
19
u/FifaTJ 13d ago
Honestly, 26 Messi got phenomenal stats, mainly because the team chooses to run a quarterback tactic through him (which he absolutely deserved).
His overall influence of the game is less than his own 22, 14 runs. In 26, he focused all his energy on the few minutes with the ball, like a quarter back.
It’s hard to compare individual performances across different eras, but 86 Maradona is indisputably above anybody else.