For many, Lionel Messi is the best in the world. Among those who share this belief is a star of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning team, who has now named the player he believes comes closest to challenging Messi’s supremacy.
The list of players and coaches who have declared Lionel Messi the best they’ve ever seen is virtually endless. Among them are many of the Argentine national team players who won the 2022 World Cup alongside him. One of those players has now named the individual who he believes comes closest to competing with Messi’s brilliance.
“Ney is incredible… For me, he’s just a step behind Messi,” Leandro Paredes stated in an interview with Argentine streamer C0ker. The AS Roma midfielder ranked Neymar ahead of every other player in the world, with the clear exception of Messi.
Paredes has strong reasons for his opinion. He was Neymar’s teammate at Paris Saint-Germain for three years (2019–2022) and played alongside Messi for a season. Additionally, he has regularly shared the pitch with Lionel in the Argentina national team since 2019, where the two have won four titles together.
“As a teammate, you could feel that he enjoys toying with opponents—he’d do things intentionally to mock them. When he plays seriously, he’s unstoppable, and when he wants to have fun, he can outwit you as well,” explained Paredes, highlighting Neymar’s unique qualities.
Finally, Paredes drew a clear distinction between the playing styles of Messi and Neymar. “Leo dribbles past players because he wants to beat them,” he explained. “With Neymar, it’s different—he wants to mock them,” Leandro noted.