Lionel Messi of Argentina received the Golden Ball trophy for his outstanding World Cup performance, which included collecting five Man of the Match awards at the just concluded 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The 35-year-old Argentine was the talk of the tournament as his team went on to win their third World Cup title after defeating France 4-2 in a penalty shootout on Sunday.
This was the 35-year-old’s fifth World Cup. In a dramatic march against the defending champions, France, at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Messi, who was crucial for his team throughout the campaign, scored twice for Argentina.
The former Barcelona Forward got off the mark scoring from the spot in Argentina’s 2-1 shocking defeat of Saudi Arabia in Matchday 1.
Argentina needed a response and Lionel Messi stepped up to the show by scoring one and making another as they ran out 2-0 winners against Mexico.
Lionel couldn’t steal the show in Argentina’s 2-0 win against Poland as they progress init the knockout stages as group winners but the gaffer responded in the round of 16 scoring his first goal at a world cup knockout stages and was also in the build up to the second as Argentina claimed a hard forth 2-1 Victory over Australia.
Argentina advanced to the final thanks to his assists and goals against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals and Croatia in the semifinals.
The big man for the big stage then made history by becoming the first Argentine to score in every round of the world cup knockout stage, as he scored his sixth goal of the competition from the penalty spot to start the scoring.
He was the player that contributed the most goals to this year’s FIFA World Cup with seven goals and three assists in seven games.
