After Lionel Messi’s World Cup dreams with Argentina were shattered, many fans noticed similarities between his run and LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Both James and Messi are considered two of the greatest, if not the greatest, players outright, in their respective sports.
But many are starting to see a lot of similarities in Messi’s run with Argentina to the FIFA World Cup final and LeBron James leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2018.
Lionel Messi and LeBron James had very similar runs to the World Cup and NBA Finals
Online sports statistics platform Sofascore shared a post on X comparing Lionel Messi’s run with Argentina to the World Cup final in 2026 and LeBron James’ run to the 2018 NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Both Messi and James managed to take their teams to the finals of their respective tournaments, only to be trounced by far superior teams in the end.
Sofascore shared graphics of both Messi and James’ average rating from these runs, compared with the ratings their teammates had.
Both Messi and James had an identical 8.79 rating on Sofascore during these campaigns. Similarly, both players’ best teammates had a rating far lower.
For Messi, his best teammate was Lisandro Martinez, who had a 7.29 rating, while James’ best performing teammate was Kevin Love, who had a 7.11 average rating in the 2018 playoffs.
Lionel Messi’s run compared to LeBron James only makes his performance more impressive
While there is no reason to try and evaluate who performed better between the two stars, contextualizing their runs allows us to understand just how brilliant Lionel Messi was.
James’ run with the Cavaliers came in the spring of 2018, when he was 32 years old and at the peak of his physical prowess. Many consider 2017-18 the best version of LeBron James.
As for Lionel Messi, this stellar run to the World Cup final came as he turned 39 years of age during the tournament, well past the peak of his powers.
For Messi to have delivered for Argentina and be their best player by a comfortable margin this late into his career shows just how incredible he is and has been across his career.
Despite playing in the MLS, a league regarded by many to be a home for players past their best years, Messi was a standout at the World Cup.
Without being disrespectful to LeBron James, Lionel Messi taking a very mediocre Argentina side to the FIFA World Cup final is nothing short of otherworldly.
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