Lionel Messi may have produced one of the greatest group-stage performances in FIFA World Cup history, but it still wasn’t enough to earn him the No. 1 spot in FIFA‘s official power rankings from the preliminary stage.
The Argentina captain, who celebrated his 39th birthday last week, finished second among all attacking players despite a record-breaking run that powered the reigning world champions to a perfect group-stage campaign.
Battling injury concerns before the tournament, Messi announced his arrival in spectacular fashion with a hat-trick against Algeria. He followed it up with a brace against Austria to become the highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history across both the men’s and women’s tournaments.
He then came off the bench against Jordan in Argentina’s final group-stage match and found the net again, becoming the first men’s player in history to score in seven consecutive World Cup matches, surpassing France legend Just Fontaine and Brazil great Jairzinho.
Those performances earned Messi a rating of 8.34 in FIFA’s attacking power rankings—higher than every player except one.
Germany forward Deniz Undav topped the rankings with a score of 8.36, while France star Kylian Mbappe (8.13) finished third, followed by Brazil’s Vinicius Junior (7.92).
Undav vs Messi at FIFA World Cup 2026
Undav edged ahead of Messi through sheer efficiency. Remarkably, the Germany striker has yet to start a match at this World Cup. His three substitute appearances total just 86 minutes, yet he has scored three goals and provided two assists.
He struck once and set up twice during Germany’s 7-1 demolition of Curacao in just 26 minutes before scoring both goals in the 2-1 win over Ivory Coast. The 28-year-old is averaging one goal every 28.7 minutes and one goal contribution every 17.2 minutes in the tournament.
“I accept the role,” Undav said recently when asked about not starting matches.
“If I weren’t happy, if I weren’t content, I wouldn’t be here.”
Messi, meanwhile, leads the Golden Boot race with six goals in just 200 minutes across three matches, although he is yet to register an assist.
Germany will face Paraguay in the round of 32 on Monday, where Kai Havertz is once again expected to start ahead of Undav despite the decision attracting criticism, with the Arsenal forward yet to score since his brace against Curacao.
Argentina, meanwhile, will take on Cape Verde on Sunday in the round of 32 after the African nation completed a dream unbeaten run through the group stage.
