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This is the era of Lionel Messi and perhaps the hardest thing is the world would be to trace football lovers who have not heard his name. The Argentinean is a gift to the beautiful game and has been shattering one record after another ever since he first broke into the scene more than a decade ago.
Lionel Messi's trophy cabinet is stuffed with silverware from his time with Barcelona and Argentina, though, he has admittedly underachieved with his national team. Nevertheless, it is his incredible trophy haul with Barcelona that never fails to take our breath away.
Messi has now won a record 34 trophies with his club, which includes 9 LaLiga titles and 4 UEFA Champions League, among many others. However, there are also a lot of fabulous records that the Argentinean holds to his name.
Perhaps the most famous of his records is that he has won the Ballon d'Or 5 times, a feat he shares with Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi has also won the European Golden Shoe a record 5 times and is also the record La Liga assist provider. And it is due to such incredible records that Messi has registered his name in the Guinness World Records.
Most of the records registered in the Guinness World Records in Lionel Messi's name are as famous as the man himself, however, there are a few records which are relatively unknown and today, we take a look at 6 such records that you might not have heard of before:
#6 Most appearances on a video game cover by a soccer player
Lionel Messi has the record of most appearances on a video game cover by a soccer player in multiple franchises, which includes the FIFA games series from EA Sports and the PES games series from Konami.
Messi has featured in 10 video game covers, which include PES 2009, PES 2010, PES 2011, FIFA Street, FIFA 13, FIFA 14, FIFA 15, FIFA 16, PES 17, and the PES 18 Legendary Edition.
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It is a recognition of the popularity of the player that multiple gaming franchises have invested in his image as the cover of their products. The only player closest to him in this regard is Ronaldinho, who has appeared in 9 video game covers, but all exclusively for EA Sports' FIFA series.
#5 Youngest Player to score 50 Goals in the Champions League
On 3rd April 2012, Lionel Messi scored a brace against AC Milan in the second leg of the Quarter Finals of the Champions League at Nou Camp, as Barcelona won 3-1. The game was a milestone for Messi for various reasons.
The Argentinean had started the game with 12 goals already that season and when he scored from the penalty spot in the 11th minute, Messi scored his 50th UEFA Champions League goal of his career.
At 24 years, 9 months and 10 days, Messi became the youngest player in the history of the tournament to reach that milestone. However, there was more history on the cards for the game.
Messi scored his second of the night in the 41st minute, again from the penalty spot and equalled the tournament record of most goals in a season, 14, set by Jose Altafini in 1962/63 season while playing for Milan.
That record has since been broken by Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 17, but Messi still retains his incredible achievement of being the youngest player to reach 50 goals in the tournament.
#4 Highest Annual Earnings for a Footballer (Current Year)
Cristiano Ronaldo was the highest paid footballer for the past two seasons running, but the Argentinean surpassed the Portuguese this time thanks to his salary and bonuses after a new contract extension.
Messi now earns $80 million in a year, with an additional $27 million coming from various endorsement deals with his sponsors like Adidas, Gatorade, Pepsi and Huawei, to name a few.
The Argentinean has extended his contract which enables him to stay with Barcelona until the 2020/21 season, but keeping in mind his out of the world abilities and immense popularity, Lionel Messi could continue to reign supreme at the top of the list for some time now.
#3 Most appearances in LaLiga by a foreign player
Lionel Messi first appeared in the LaLiga as a Barcelona player in the 2004/05 season, where he scored 1 goal from 7 appearances. Since then, Messi has gone on to appear a record 427 times, scoring 390 goals and registering another record 167 assists.
In this period, Messi has scored more than 20 LaLiga goals in a season for a record 10 seasons in a row. He has also scored 50 goals in 2012/13 league season, another record which is yet to be broken. This season, Messi has already scored 7 goals from 9 matches in the LaLiga so far but is currently recovering from a forearm fracture.
The Argentine magician has won the Spanish league title 9 times already in his career and has been one of the most consistent performers in the history of the league. As such, it is only fair that he has the record of the most appearances in LaLiga by a foreign player, to his name.
#2 Most Goals scored by a substitute in a Copa America Match
Almost 57 years later, on 10th June 2016, Messi came on in the 61st minute against Panama at Soldier Field in Chicago Illinois, USA. Argentina were already leading 1-0, thanks to an Otamendi goal in the 7th minute.
It took Messi only 7 minutes to find the back of the net, as he extended Argentina's lead to 2-0. In the 78th minute, Messi scored his second of the night and 9 minutes later, he had completed his hattrick.
Aguero added another goal in the 90th minute as Argentina won the game 5-0 and Messi equalled the record of most goals scored by a substitute in a Copa America Match - 3.
#1 Most Goals in a UEFA Champions League Match
On 7th March 2012, Bayern 04 Leverkusen travelled to Camp Nou to face Barcelona in the Champions League in the second leg of the round of sixteen. The Germans had lost the first leg 3-1 at home, but were high from their weekend win over Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga and were hoping for a miracle.
A miracle was destined, but unfortunately for them, they could only watch in awe, because the night belonged to Lionel Messi.
Early in the first half, Messi received a ball from Xavi and displayed a delightful lob over the onrushing goalkeeper to open the scoring. The Argentinean doubled the lead in the first half itself, with some cute dribbles and a low shot.
Messi completed his hattrick with a right-footed lob from a Fabregas pass and went on to score 2 more as Barcelona won the game 7-1.
Lionel Messi scored 5 goals on the night, the first player to do so. Luis Adriano has since equalled the record while playing for Shakhtar Donetsk against BATE Borisov in 2014.
