Lionel Messi won the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar to silence many who criticized his trophy cabinet with Argentina. Many fans and experts claimed that the World Cup triumph cements the legacy of Messi as the best player of all time. However, the 2022 World Cup triumph along with the Golden Ball accolade isn’t enough for former Argentine goalkeeper, Hugo ‘Loco’ Gatti.
Gatti commented on Messi’s legacy after winning the World Cup. He compared the Argentine captain with some of the former greats as well as new-generation superstar, Kylian Mbappé. Gatti (via @Football__Tweet on ‘X’) commented: “Pele has not been surpassed by anyone and Messi is no better than Maradona. Messi was good at the World Cup, but the best was Mbappé.”
The former Argentine international believes Lionel Messi is yet to surpass Diego Maradona and Pele. He also acknowledges that Messi was amazing at Qatar but in his opinion, Mbappé was the best at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
🎙️ Loco Gatti: “Pele has not been surpassed by anyone and Messi is no better than Maradona. Messi was good at the World Cup, but the best was Mbappé.” pic.twitter.com/AN7JP0jlqZ
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) November 24, 2023
Among these four players, Pele has three World Cups while the other three, Kylian Mbappe, Messi, and Maradona, all have one World Cup each. On the greatest stage, Pele is yet to be surpassed by anyone. This fact adds weight to the opinion of Gatti. However, Messi’s European record tilts the balance in his favor for many fans and experts.
All these players belong to different eras and it is impossible to compare all these without some bias. For many, Gatti’s opinion might be polarizing, but the former keeper who represented Argentina in 14 matches is entitled to have his own opinion on the ‘Greatest Player Ever‘.
Lionel Messi surpassed Pele in the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Lionel Messi might not be able to surpass Pele in World Cup titles but he overtook the great Brazilian in World Cup goals when he scored his 13th goal in World Cups. Pele played 14 games for Brazil in four different World Cups and scored only 12 goals.
Pele made his debut in the World Cup in the 1958 edition. He started the tournament on the bench but was influential in the knockout stages. He scored six goals in the knockout stages, including a brace in the final, to win his first World Cup.
Goal contributions in World Cup Knockouts:
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi – 11
🇧🇷 Pele – 11
🇧🇷 Ronaldo – 10
🇫🇷 Mbappe – 9
🇳🇱 Johan Cruyff – 8
🇦🇷 Maradona – 6
🇵🇹 Eusebio – 6Where’s Mr Suiiii ?? pic.twitter.com/wpVCdemi41
— Sam (@_tizzylee) November 20, 2023
In 1962, Pele played only two games in the Group stage and was injured for the rest of the tournament with a hamstring injury. Brazil retained the World Cup without Pele, who scored no goals for his second World Cup title.
In 1966, Brazil was knocked out in the group stage. Pele scored only a single goal in this edition. 1970 was the final World Cup for Pele. He played six games in the tournament and scored four goals and six assists to win his third and final World Cup for Brazil.
On the other hand, Messi has played five editions of the World Cup in his career. He has played 26 games in these five editions and has scored 13 goals. The goal that put Messi ahead of Pele came in the extra time against France in the final. Messi finished with 2022 tournament with seven goals and three assists, which helped him earn the Golden Ball accolade for being the best player in the tournament.