Lionel Messi outperformed Erling Haaland and other Ballon d’Or nominees in key metric across 25/26

Despite being 39 and playing in the MLS, Lionel Messi is still among the 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees.

The Inter Miami star played a key role in his team winning the MLS Cup for the first time in 2025.

More recently, he was among the World Cup's top goalscorers as Argentina reached the second final in a row before losing 1-0 to Spain.

Now, 433 have shared that Messi had more goal involvements than any other Ballon d'Or nominee across 2025/26.

Lionel Messi had the most goal involvements across 2025/26

They tweeted: "Lionel Messi (85 G+A) leads the way in total goal involvements during the 2025-26 season, while Harry Kane (81) scored the most goals."

The South American managed 53 goals and 32 assists during that period.

Harry Kane took second place on the list (73 goals, 8 assists). Real Madrid and France star Kylian Mbappe was third (58 goals, 13 assists).

Norwegian striker Erling Haaland placed fourth (58 goals, 12 assists), while Michael Olise (25 goals, 37 assists) rounded out the top five.

Messi (8) has already won more Ballon d'Ors than any other player in history prior to the 2026 ceremony, with Cristiano Ronaldo (5) his closest competitor.