Messi becomes the historical top scorer of the 5 major leagues in Europe. 496 goals in 577 games played. Photo: @ESPN_Deportes.

Lionel Messi shouted champion in France and added his second Ligue 1 with PSG. La Pulga returned to celebrate a new title after the one achieved with the Argentine national team, the most coveted of all: the World Cup.

The Rosario was able to break the curse with the Albiceleste after the conquest of the Copa America against Brazil at the Maracanã in July 2021 and joined the star in mid-2022, in another mythical stadium, such as Wembley, against Italy in the Finalissima. Then came the World Cup won in Qatar against France last December.

After these titles with Argentina, the captain celebrated again at club level and reached his 42nd career trophy. In this way, Messi not only established himself as the winningest Argentine footballer in history, followed by his teammate Ángel Di María, who surpassed Carlos Tevez in second place, but also reached Dani Alves at the top as the most successful footballer of all time.

This coronation on French soil allowed Messi to reach the 42nd title of his career and detach himself from Spaniard Andrés Iniesta and Brazilian Maxwell, who complete the podium with 37. Of course, the Argentine equaled the mark of the until now most winner, his former teammate Dani Alves, who led the classification alone. Behind the aforementioned are Ryan Giggs (36), Kenny Dalglish and Gerard Piqué (35), Vítor Baía (34), Xavi Hernández (33) and Cristiano Ronaldo (33).

What are the 42 titles that Messi won?

Lionel's record consists of 10 Spanish Leagues, seven Spanish Super Cups, seven King's Cups, four Champions Leagues, three European Super Cups and three Club World Cups.

All those conquests, a total of 34, have been achieved with the Barcelona shirt since 2005 until he said goodbye in mid-2021. To these we must add the two Ligue 1 reached with PSG (last season and the current one) and the French Super Cup (2021/22).

A clarification: the culé team adds a title to the record of Rosario that has been in constant debate for some time. It was for the 2005 Spanish Super Cup, which was played over two legs on 13 and 20 August. Barcelona and Betis played as champions of the First Division of Spain 2004/05 champion of the Copa del Rey 2004-05, respectively. The Blaugrana thrashed 3-0 the first leg and lost 1-2 the return, but Messi did not enter the call in either of the two matches.

For this reason, in many counts they do not consider him as champion of that contest. For his part, with the Argentine national team, Lionel Messi has also added the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the Final against Italy, the Copa America in Brazil 2021, plus the Olympic gold medal in Beijing 2008 and a Under-20 World Cup in Holland 2005.

(With information from agencies)