World Cup Player of the Tournament: Mercurial Messi proves class is permanent

[p]Just as with [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/world-cup-team-of-the-tournament-porro-cubarsi-olise-dembele-rodri-vinicius-messi-haaland-mbappe/6qKTTpam/"][i]Flashscore[/i]'s Team of the Tournament[/a][/b], we used our very own [a href="https://www.flashscore.com/news/rating/WtG2SIIU/"]internal ratings system[/a] to determine the highest-rated player from the 2026 World Cup. The answer was emphatic as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/messi-lionel/vgOOdZbd/"]Messi[/a]'s incredible average rating of 8.7 beat superstars like [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/haaland-erling/UmV9iQmE/"]Erling Haaland[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mbappe-kylian/Wn6E2SED/"]Kylian Mbappe[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/olise-michael/E5pvwqkK/"]Michael Olise[/a] to the Player of the Tournament crown.[/p][embed guid="b523ceae-3252-4413-a769-2ab4e51521a1" url="https://x.com/adidasfootball/status/2078995389785489606" social-type="twitter" /][p]The highest-rated player at this tournament, the mercurial, irresistible Messi, proved that he still has something left in the tank, single-handedly taking [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/argentina/f9OppQjp/"]Argentina[/a] to the final.[/p][p]The little magician scored eight goals and registered four assists, with a hat-trick in the opening game against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/algeria/nc87N1BR/"]Algeria[/a] a sign of things to come. He often grabbed games by the scruff of their neck when Argentina were in trouble. His superhuman efforts in late comebacks against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/egypt/bejDn7NN/"]Egypt[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a] were mind-boggling.[/p][p]Additionally, Messi completed the most dribbles (28), created the most chances (25), and created the most big chances (8) - doing this at the age of 39 is hard to comprehend. He also became the second-top scorer in tournament history (21).[/p][image alt="Messi's stats at the World Cup" id="3ea118f2-6cd9-466b-9e59-58d88ea2840a" credit-line="Heuler Andrey Da Silva, DiaEsportivo / Alamy / Profimedia / Opta by StatsPerform" guid="a756d3f2-f6c5-4fe2-a606-35a79d15f414" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]This was likely to be the last time we saw Messi set foot on the World Cup stage, and despite Argentina's pretty embarrassing display in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/argentina-f9OppQjp/spain-bLyo6mco/?mid=UgbUKPmT"]their 1-0 final[/a] defeat to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a], the tournament as a whole would be a wonderful way to bow out.[/p][p]A nation can bask in his greatness now that his World Cup story has ended as their king steps down from the throne. There is nobody like him, and there may never be again.[/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]