What Messi did in the 2014 World Cup was one of the greatest performances in its history, deservedly winning the Golden Ball award for the tournament. Unfortunately, some people still think that Messi robbed the award, so let's take a look at what Messi did that earned him that Golden Ball.
In his debut against Bosnia and Herzegovina, he created Kolasinac's own goal thanks to his cross, which would have otherwise been an assist from Messi if Rojo converted, and later made it 2 with an amazing goal, winning the game 2-1. Against an Iran side that parked the bus, he created a big chance for Garay in the first half, which unfortunately wasn't converted, but he managed to score the winner in the dying minutes of the game. In the last game against Nigeria, he scored early on but Musa quickly equalized the match. He created a big chance for Higuaín, but he didn't score. Before the end of the first half, Messi scored a great free kick to give Argentina the lead once more. Once again, Musa equalized in the second half, but then came Rojo's goal to win the game. This goal came from a free kick from Messi which was rejected, Di María sent to a corner, and Garay then assisted Rojo. Once again, Messi created a big chance for Higuaín which he once again missed. He was WhoScored's MoTM in all 3 games.
Then came the knockouts, where Messi first assisted a goal to Di María against Switzerland in the Round of 16 to win Argentina the game. He also won WhoScored's MoTM in this game, In the quarter-finals, Higuaín's goal came from an attack started by Messi. In the semi-finals, Messi scored in the shootout, made 10 dribbles, and won WhoScored's MoTM easily as well. The final was the most unfortunate part. Messi made 7 dribbles and 2 key passes, but with a goal to Higuaín canceled, another one-on-one from Pipa this time failed, a penalty for Argentina not given and finally, another 1v1 from Palacio missed and a goal from Götze, Germany won the World Cup. As unfortunate as it was, it was still a good performance from him, getting an 8/10 from The Guardian, and he was easily the best player of the tournament.
His stats were the following: 4 goals, 1 assist, 4 big chances created, 46 dribbles, 23 key passes, 11 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 232 passes. Certainly World Cup Golden Ball material if you ask me, especially when you see how Messi did it.
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