Lionel Messi is in the spotlight, but is he the greatest? The finest individual performances in World Cup history

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Who is the greatest of the greatest?

No, we are not searching for the best footballer of all time. This question is more specific: Who produced the greatest individual performance at a single World Cup?

Was it Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona? Does Ronaldo Nazário deserve the honour after his spectacular return in 2002? Perhaps the answer lies with Johan Cruyff, Paolo Rossi or Garrincha.

Football is a team sport. There is no doubt about that. If a team does not function as a unit, the number of outstanding individuals in the squad becomes almost irrelevant.

A functioning collective usually provides the foundation for individual excellence. As coaches often say, the team produces the individual.

When that individual possesses an extraordinary talent, as Messi undoubtedly does, the results become visible to everyone. Magical things begin to happen.

Messi’s contribution to Argentina’s run to the final four years ago in Qatar was enormous. He has now carried his country into another World Cup final at the age of 39.

That raises an unavoidable question. Does Messi’s performance rank among the greatest, perhaps even as the greatest by one player at a single World Cup?

These are some of the finest individual contributions to team success in the history of the competition.

Lionel Messi, Argentina, Qatar 2022 and North America 2026

Messi’s case is unusual because it stretches across two consecutive World Cups.

In Qatar in 2022, he finally claimed the trophy that had escaped him throughout his career. Messi scored seven goals, provided three assists and became the first player to score in the group stage, round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final at the same World Cup.

He scored against Saudi Arabia and Mexico in the group stage before finding the net against Australia in the round of 16. He then scored and assisted against the Netherlands, dominated the semi-final against Croatia and struck twice in the final against France.

His pass to Nahuel Molina against the Netherlands was perfect. His dribble against Croatia, when he tormented Joško Gvardiol before setting up Julián Álvarez, became one of the defining images of the tournament.

Messi then scored twice against France in the final and converted Argentina’s first penalty in the shootout. He finished the tournament with the Golden Ball and lifted the World Cup for the first time.

Four years later, he returned at the age of 39 and once again became Argentina’s central figure. Before the final against Spain, Messi had recorded eight goals and four assists.

He also produced the decisive contributions in the semi-final against England. Argentina trailed 1-0 until the closing minutes, but Messi created goals for Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez to complete a dramatic 2-1 comeback.

Messi no longer runs as often as he once did. He chooses his moments, studies defenders, and waits for the space to appear. When it does, one pass, one shot, or one movement still changes the entire match.

If Argentina defeats Spain and retains the title, Messi’s 2026 campaign will take its place beside the greatest performances in World Cup history. Combined with 2022, it would represent a period of international dominance that few players have ever achieved.

Ronaldo, Brazil, Japan and South Korea 2002

The Brazilian team at the 2002 World Cup possessed many outstanding individuals. Ronaldo played alongside Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Cafu and several other great players.

Yet Brazil had struggled badly during qualification without Ronaldo, who spent a long period recovering from serious knee injuries. They only narrowly secured their place at the World Cup.

Without Ronaldo, the burden of becoming Brazil’s first star and attacking catalyst fell on Rivaldo, who never appeared comfortable carrying it alone. When Ronaldo returned, everything changed.

Ronaldo and Rivaldo understood each other perfectly. They operated on the same wavelength, and the entire team played with greater freedom.

Ronaldo finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with eight goals. He scored once against Turkey and China before striking twice against Costa Rica in the group stage.

He then scored against Belgium in the round of 16, struck the winner against Turkey in the semi-final and delivered two goals against Germany in the final.

His contribution was invaluable. Without him, Brazil would have struggled to win their fifth World Cup title.

His achievement carried another layer of emotion. Ronaldo had suffered a serious health scare before the 1998 final and then spent much of the following four years fighting injuries that threatened to end his career.

In Yokohama, he completed one of football’s greatest personal comebacks.

Johan Cruyff, Netherlands, West Germany 1974 

The Netherlands did not win the title in 1974, but their team retains cult status more than half a century later.

West Germany lifted the trophy, yet the Dutch left a deeper romantic impression on many football supporters. Their revolutionary Total Football received full recognition on the world stage.

Total Football depended on the entire team moving in harmony. Every player needed to understand several positions and respond to the movement of his teammates.

Yet even the most advanced collective system needs an individual who possesses something extra, a form of genius that no coach or academy can teach.

That individual was Johan Cruyff.

Cruyff stood at the centre of everything the Netherlands produced. All eleven players participated in the system, but without him it would have been far less effective.

He scored twice against Argentina and once against Brazil during the second group stage. The match against defending champions Brazil decided which team would reach the final, and the Netherlands completely outplayed them in a 2-0 victory.

Cruyff’s goal for 2-0 was a masterpiece. He moved into the penalty area and met Ruud Krol’s cross with an acrobatic finish that Brazilian goalkeeper Émerson Leão had no chance of stopping.

In the final against West Germany, Cruyff produced an extraordinary individual run immediately after kick-off. Berti Vogts could not stop him, while Uli Hoeneß eventually brought him down inside the penalty area.

Johan Neeskens converted the penalty before West Germany had touched the ball.

Then football history took another path. Paul Breitner equalised, Gerd Müller scored the winner, and the Germans celebrated a 2-1 victory.

Cruyff never became a world champion, but his 1974 performance changed how football was played and understood.

Paolo Rossi, Italy, Spain 1982

The story of Italian striker Paolo Rossi is one of the most extraordinary in World Cup history.

Rossi had been a key member of the Italian team that finished fourth at the 1978 World Cup. He was later implicated in the Totonero betting and match-fixing scandal and received a two-year suspension.

He returned shortly before the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Italy coach Enzo Bearzot selected him because he had complete faith in the striker, despite fierce criticism at home.

Rossi struggled during the opening group stage. His long absence from competitive football was obvious, while Italy drew all three matches and barely advanced.

The second group stage served as a replacement for the quarter-finals. Italy entered a brutal section with Argentina and Brazil, but suddenly began to look like a different team.

The decisive match came against Brazil. A draw would have taken Socrates, Zico, Falcão and their teammates into the semi-finals.

Instead, Rossi became a legend.

He scored a hat-trick in Italy’s unforgettable 3-2 victory, eliminating the most admired team at the tournament.

Rossi then destroyed Poland with two goals in the semi-final. In the final against West Germany, he scored the opening goal and made a decisive contribution to Italy’s 3-1 victory.

He finished with six goals and won the Golden Boot despite failing to score in his first four matches.

When Italy needed him most, Rossi appeared in the right place at the right moment.

Garrincha, Brazil, Chile 1962

In 1962, Pelé was only 21 but already regarded as the best player in the world. He appeared to be approaching his peak, and the World Cup in Chile was expected to belong to him.

Everything started according to plan. Pelé scored in Brazil’s opening victory over Mexico.

Then disaster struck.

He suffered an injury during the second match against Czechoslovakia, forcing Brazil to play the rest of the tournament without their greatest player.

The opportunity to shine on the biggest stage therefore passed to the brilliant Garrincha.

He was a chaotic dribbler, a playful dancer and an elusive bohemian. Garrincha scored twice in the quarter-final against England before repeating the achievement against host nation Chile in the semi-final.

Although he was nominally a right winger, he appeared everywhere. He produced unpredictable passes, explosive runs, imaginative ideas, long-range goals, and dangerous free kicks.

Garrincha represented the pure joy of playing football. He also carried a mischievous streak.

He was sent off against Chile after retaliating against Eladio Rojas. Brazil then worked successfully to ensure he remained eligible for the final.

The disciplinary story offers a distant historical echo of the political controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s intervention in a suspension case at this year’s tournament. Brazil also found a way to keep one of its most important players available for the decisive match.

Garrincha entered the final against Czechoslovakia while suffering from a fever and did not produce his finest performance. In a sense, justice was served after he escaped from suspension.

Brazil still won 3-1 and became world champions for the second consecutive time.

Without Garrincha’s contribution, it would not have happened.

Diego Maradona, Argentina, Mexico 1986 

Everything has been written about Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

His tournament remains the standard against which every great individual World Cup performance is measured.

Before the championship, Maradona was already an outstanding footballer, perhaps even the best in the world. After Mexico, he became something more.

Maradona grew from a footballer into a deity, an icon of the Global South and a worldwide phenomenon.

He did not dominate the group stage to the same degree as the knockout rounds. He scored against defending champions Italy and produced several brilliant moments, but his tournament changed after the group phase.

Argentina recorded a routine victory over regional rivals Uruguay in the round of 16. Then came the iconic quarter-final against England.

Maradona scored the two most famous goals in World Cup history within four minutes.

The first was the infamous Hand of God. The second was a masterpiece in which he collected the ball inside his own half, escaped several English players, rounded goalkeeper Peter Shilton and scored.

Against Belgium in the semi-final, Maradona was arguably even better. He scored two magnificent goals, but because the match carried none of the political and historical tension surrounding the England encounter, they are often overshadowed by his quarter-final performance.

In the final, Lothar Matthäus held him in a vice and followed him across the pitch. Maradona did not dominate as he had against England and Belgium, but he still decided the match.

West Germany recovered from 2-0 down and equalised late in the second half. At 2-2, with the final threatening to move into extra time, Maradona saw Jorge Burruchaga running into open space.

He produced a divine, perfectly weighted pass. Burruchaga raced clear, scored and made Argentina world champions.

Maradona finished the tournament with five goals and five assists. More important than the numbers was the way he controlled matches while opponents tried to stop him through physical violence.

Modern football supporters who compare today’s superstars with Maradona often struggle to understand the treatment he received from defenders.

FIFA introduced stricter punishments for dangerous fouls after the 1990 World Cup. Football gradually developed into the faster and more protected game we recognise today.

Maradona received no such protection in Mexico. Defenders kicked his ankles, stamped on his feet, and tried to remove him from matches by force.

Despite the constant attempts to break his legs, Maradona moved like an eel, floated like a butterfly, and played like a poet among lumberjacks.

That is why he will always be the greatest.

Can Messi take Maradona’s place?

Ronaldo scored eight goals and completed a personal resurrection. Cruyff changed football without winning the trophy. Rossi came back from suspension and scored six decisive goals. Garrincha replaced Pelé and carried Brazil to the title.

Maradona produced the tournament that still defines individual World Cup greatness.

Messi has already created his own case. He led Argentina to the title in 2022 and has taken them back to the final four years later with eight goals and four assists.

If he lifts the trophy again at the age of 39, football will need to reconsider where his achievement belongs.

The final judgment will always remain subjective. Different eras had different rules, tactical demands, tournament formats, and levels of protection for attacking players.

Yet one truth connects every name on this list.

The team created the conditions, but the individual transformed them into history.