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Lionel Messi has been rated best player in FIFA 22, from rankings published by EA Sports. Messi is rated at 93 in this year's edition, ahead of second-placed Robert Lewandowski who has a 92 rating, and third-placed Cristiano Ronaldo who shares a rating of 91 with Kevin De Bruyne, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar Jr and Jan Oblak. Kevin De Bruyne's is the highest-rated Premier League footballer on the game, as both Harry Kane and N'Golo Kante come in at 90. Here's the complete list of FIFA 22's best players. 1.  Lionel Messi - 93 2.  Robert Lewandowski - 92 3.  Cristiano Ronaldo - 91 4.  Kevin De Bruyne - 91 5.  Kylian Mbappe - 91 6.  Neymar Jr - 91 7.  Jan Oblak - 91 8.  Harry Kane - 90 9.  N'Golo Kante - 90 10.  Manuel Neuer - 90 11.  Marc-Andre ter Stegen - 90 12.  Mohamed Salah - 89 13.  Gianluigi Donnarumma - 89 14.  Karim Benzema - 89 15.  Virgil van Dijk - 89 16.  Joshua Kimmich - 89 17.  Heung Min Son - 89 18.  Alisson - 89 19. 

Argentina captain and icon Lionel Messi on Thursday night became the top male international goalscorer, overtaking Brazil legend Pele. Messi scored a hat-trick to give Argentina a 3-0 win over Bolivia in a World Cup qualifier. Messi's international goal tally now stands at 79, two more than Pele. Pele - three-time World Cup winner with Brazil is currently in hospital due to surgery for a tumor on his colon. It was the first time Argentina fans were allowed to watch their national team since the start of the pandemic. There were 21,000 fans in attendance at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires. Messi scored his first goal 14 minutes into the game - he moved the ball between a Bolivian defender's legs and shot from outside the box to the right of goalkeeper Carlos Lampe. Hi second came in the 64th minute after he worked a one-two with Lautaro Martinez and displayed superb footwork in a packed penalty box. He completed his hat-trick in the 88th minute, sending home a rebound

Lionel Messi made his PSG debut against Reims on Sunday, applauded by most of the 21,000 fans in attendance. He replaced Neymar in the 65th minute for what could be the greatest substitution in history. The star for PSG that night was however Kylian Mbappe who scored a brace in what could be his final game in a PSG shirt, securing a 2-0 victory for PSG. Messi however struck records out of the field - his debut was the most-watched Ligue 1 fixture in the history of TV fixtures in France. In Spain, his debut averaged over 2 million viewers, making it the most-watched French football game in the country. Figures revealed show that the match had an average audience of 2.2 million viewers in Spain.  Kosmos Holding, Gerard Pique's company, secured the rights to Ligue 1 following Messi's move to Paris in August. Only Telecinco and Llanos in Spain secured access to Messi's debut, with a license from Kosmos. Llanos's Twitch channel avraged 2 million unique Spanish viewers, a

This Wednesday morning, Lionel Messi was officially unveiled as a PSG player at the Parc des Princes. His 21-year relationship with Barcelona was officially ended on Tuesday as he completed a medical and officially signed with the number 1 French club. He signed a two-year contract which includes an option of a third year. Following his unveiling, Messi had a press conference before stepping out to greet the thousands of fans in attendance. "Everyone knows that I left Barcelona a few days ago, it was tough it's true because it was several years I've been there. But since I arrived here, I felt a great happening and a great eagerness to start training," Messi said during the presser, according to the  Daily Mail. "I can't wait to join my teammates the head coach and to start this new stage. I want to thank Leonardo the president and all the club for the way this happened. "After the press release from Barcelona, they took their position and it was v

Following a shock exist from Barcelona, Messi will be joining French side Paris Saint-Germain, on a two-year deal, which has the option of a third year. A news conference will be held by PSG in the auditorium of the Parc des Princes on Wednesday to that effect. He will earn about $35 million to $41 million after tax per season while at PSG. "It's all been confirmed. Lionel Messi is going to be a PSG player," Balague said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "That's it, it's done. It's happened in the last few minutes. "At the moment there are as much police as there are fans [at the stadium]. That's going to change soon. There's eight cameras here, again that's going to change. It seems like it is a two-year deal, plus one. "His idea was to do it at Barcelona but it's going to be PSG. Then if he feels OK he will stay one more year maybe. But in any case his aim is to be at PSG and then to do well in the Qatar World Cup."

An emotional Lionel Messi confirmed on Sunday he was leaving FC Barcelona, the club he has played for his entire life (21 years). He was in tears as he received a standing ovation in his final Barcelona press conference. On Thursday, the same day he returned from his post-Copa America holiday, Barcelona announced the six-time Ballon d'Or winner would be leaving Barcelona. "This year, my family and I were convinced we were going to stay at home, that's what we all wanted more than anything," said Messi. "We'd always made this our own, we were at home. We thought we would be staying here in Barcelona. But today, we have to say goodbye to all of this." "I did everything possible and the club, Laporta, they couldn't do it because of La Liga," said Messi. "I've heard things said about me, that I didn't want to continue, but on my life, we did everything we could because I wanted to stay. "Last year, I didn't want

Barcelona in a statement on Thursday evening announced Leo Messi will leave the Catalan club after spending 21 years at the club. The club's statement read:  "Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish Liga regulations). "As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled. "FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life." Messi had already agreed a 50% weekly wage cut and agreed to sign a new five-year contract two weeks after his contract expired on July 1, but Barcelona were unable to register him without

The wait is over for Lionel Messi and Argentina who had not lifted a major international trophy since 1993. After over a decade of trophy-winning with Barcelona, Lionel Messi finally won a major title with Argentina (in his 10th major tournament). Argentina's 1-0 victory in the Copa America final on Saturday was the result of team effort - being Argentina's first and only goal in the tournament (out of 12) not to involve Messi.  Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni took the risk of changing the team that won the semi-finals and it proved worthwhile. Guido Rodriguez gave way to Leandro Paredes, and Nicolas Gonzales on the left wing gave way to Angel di Maria - who scored the winner. He also changed the 4-3-3 line-up for a 4-4-2. The Argentine captain had an opportunity to sign off Argentina's win with an extra goal but slipped with the goal at his mercy. Messi was named MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the tournament alongside Neymar, and won the Golden Boot for most goals scored -

Finally! Argentina has overcome its Copa America penalty shootout demons and defeated Colombia to advance to the Copa America final match-up with Brazil - and the hero of the day was Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez. Both teams faced each other for 90 minutes and had to go to penalties as stipulates by the rules, with a 1-1 draw. Lautaro Martinez scored for Argentina early in the first half (in the 7th minute), from a Messi assist and Luis Diaz equalized for Colombia in the 61st minute of play. A trash-talking, hip-thrusting Emiliano Martinez saved three of the five penalties he faced, while Messi, Leandro Paredes and Lautaro Martinez did well to convert their chances from the spot for Argentina. Messi labelled 28-year-old "Emi" Martinez a "phenomenon" for his three shoot-out saves.  "We've got Dibu, who is a phenomenon," said Messi. "We trusted him. We achieved the goal of being able to play all the games and now we are going to the final.&

Argentina's 3-0 win over Ecuador in the Copa America quarterfinal was largely orchestrated by their captain and talisman Lionel Messi. Messi's goal on Saturday was his 76th for Argentina, taking him to within one of Pele's South American record. Messi missed a golden opportunity to give Argentina the lead early on as he hit the post with a shot when through on goal. He later provided assists for Rodrigo de Paul 41 minutes into the game and for Lautaro Martinez five minutes into stoppage time to give Argentina a much deserved victory.  Leo's goal - his second free-kick of the tournament was scored in stoppage time.  "I've always said that individual prizes are secondary, we're here for something else," Messi said. "We have an objective and we're focused on that.  I want to congratulate the group for the work they are doing - we have been away from our families for many days. "   He added: "It was a hard match. We know how difficul

Lionel Messi has now surpassed Javier Mascherano to become Argentina's most capped player, a record he set in his 148th national team appearance. Argentina faced Bolivia in their last Copa America group stage game on Monday, with Messi scoring twice and setting up another goal as Argentina routed their opponents 4-1, topping Group A. Messi achieved those strides in just 42 minutes of play, and was taken off the pitch. Argentina will face Ecuador in the quarter-finals in Goiana, and have now gone 17 games unbeaten. Messi has taken his international goals tally to 75 goals with the brace scored last night. Messi who has appeared in three Copa America finals and the 2014 World Cup final - all lost by Argentina - is hoping to lay hands on some silverware with country. On the eve of the Copa, he said: "I've been lucky enough to win everything at club level and individual level and it would be lovely also to win something with the national side," the 34-year-old said.

Barcelona had a huge win over Getafe on Thursday night in a thrilling game. Messi opened scoring in the 8th minute before Getafe equalized through Clement Lenglet's own goal. Messi made it 3-1 in the 33rd minute, then Getafe reduced Barcelona’s lead through a penalty converted by Enes Unai. Unfortunately for Getafe, goals by Ronald Araujo and Antoine Griezmann sealed Barcelona's victory. Araujo's goal was assisted by Lionel Messi.  Messi had the opportunity to secure yet another career hat-trick when Griezmann was fouled in the box and Barcelona was awarded a penalty. Messi, despite being Barcelona's designated penalty-kick taker gave Griezmann the ball, and he converted the goal, making it 5-2 in Barcelona's favor.  Messi's brace on Thursday means he and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only players from the 'top five' European leagues to have scored at least 25 goals in 12 different seasons this century.

Barcelona easily cruised to their first trophy of 2020-21 - their first silverware since 2019 - as they thrashed Athletic Bilbao 4 goals to nothing. Barcelona were unable to find their breakthrough despite having a lion's share of ball possession until the 60th minute. Antoine Griezmann turned in Frenkie de Jong's cross to give Barcelona their first. Barcelona would go on to score three more goals in the space of 12 minutes. De Jong scored Barcelona's second, merely 3 minutes after Griezmann's. Thereon, it was a Messi show, with the Argentine driving from his own half, exchanging twice with De Jong to score Barcelona’s third. His second goal - Barcelona's fourth - came in four minutes after his first - a truly sublime goal. Messi's brace takes his goal tally for the season to 31 goals. As of now, he has scored more than 3 goals for Barcelona in all competitions in 13 straight seasons. Barcelona have now won the Copa del Rey 31 times. Messi passed Telmo Zar

Lionel Messi just created another record with his 768th appearance for Barcelona - the most of any player in Barcelona's history. He created the record in style, with two goals and assist as Barcelona thrashed fifth placed Real Sociedad 6 - 1.  The other goal scorers were: Antoine Griezmann who opened scoring, Sergino Dest who also scored a Brace like Messi, and Ousmane Dembele with a fine goal. Barcelona had already sent five past the Sociedad keeper when  Ander Barrenetxea scored a consolation goal for Real Sociedad. Messi's assist for Sergino Dest's first goal for Barcelona took Messi's assist tally to eight this season. Leo has now scored 29 goals and provided 13 assists in 37 games this season in all competitions for Barcelona - 23 of those scored in La Liga. Barcelona are still four points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid who earlier beat Alaves 1 - 0, thanks to Luis Suarez's 500th career goal and a late Jan Oblak penalty save.  

Lionel Messi was in brilliant form on Monday night as he inspired Barcelona to a 4-1 triumph over Huesca, scoring a brace and providing an assist. It was a special occasion as he equaled Xavi's record number of appearances in a Barcelona jersey.  Barceona's first goal of the night came from Messi in the 13th minute, the second came from Antoine Griezmann 10 minutes before half-time - a near copycat goal of Messi's, the third from Oscar Mingueza (assisted by Messi) early in the second half, and the fourth by Messi in the last minutes of play.  "It's a good result and we keep growing," Koeman said after the match. "We were good in the first half and maintained the intensity in the second half. We did lose a little bit of concentration after the break, maybe there was a bit of tiredness. But the objective was to win and we've done that." Barcelona  have now managed 11 wins and a draw from their last 12 matches, and are now only four points awa

Messi's outrageous strike against PSG on Wednesday will live long in football fans' memories - a ferocious effort from 25 yards (22.86 meters) that sunk into the top corner of the net - though it wasn't enough for Barcelona to overcome their 4-1 first-leg defeat - Barcelona needed four goals to progress to the quarter-finals. The uphill task was made even more difficult for the Blaugrana as Kylian Mbappe converted a penalty for PSG on the half-hour.  Messi had the opportunity to make it two for Barcelona, but missed from the penalty spot, with Navas comfortably deflecting the ball away from goal. It was a rather convincing display from Barcelona, and coach Koeman hopes Barcelona's recent progress in performance will convince Messi to stay at Barcelona beyond this season. "Leo [Messi] has seen for quite some time that the team is improving thanks to all the changes we've made," Koeman said after Barcelona's Champions League exit. "We have you

58-year-old lawyer Joan Laporta, poised favorite to replace Josep Maria Bartomeu, has been confirmed as Barcelona's new president, beating Victor Font and Toni Freixa in Sunday's election. He amassed 54.28* of the vote, Font - 29.99% and Freixa - 8.58%. This will be Laporta's second term as Barcelona's president. He took charge of the club from 2003 to 2010. During his reign, Barcelona won two Champions League titles and four league titles. For the first time, Lionel Messi - accompanied by his son Thiago - voted in club elections. Laporta has reportedly been Messi's choice all along. The night before election day, Laporta was asked if he would be in touch with Messi's entourage on voting day, and he said: “Why tomorrow? I can speak tonight, the night is long.”  “These are the most important elections in the history of FC Barcelona,” Laporta declared. “They have been organized in a model fashion.” Font who lost the elections TV3: “I think it has been a cons

Barcelona's 2-0 win at Osasuna on Saturday brought them within two points of first-place Atletico Madrid. For three games in a row now, Barcelona have conceded zero goals. Barcelona's opener - scored by Jordi Alba was set by Lionel Messi in the first half. Brilliant saves by Marc Andre ter Stergen from Kike Barja and Ruben Garcia saw Barcelona maintain a clean sheet in the first half, and throughout the game. Barcelona's second goal was scored by eighteen-year-old Ilaix Moriba, with another assist from Messi. He  collected Lionel Messi’s pass on the edge of the area before cutting on his left foot and curling a wonderful effort into the top corner - a goal he says he will never forget and will take to his grave. “Leo gave me a good pass and I don’t know how I cut and shot with the left, and thank God it went in," he told  Barca TV.  "I will never forget this and I will take it to my grave. There’s competition for places but it doesn’t matter if you are young