Year after year with astounding consistency, Lionel Messi continues to set records, and 2020 was no different. The 33-year-old Argentinian not only set new benchmarks with his goalscoring, but also for assists, demonstrating once again his remarkable vision, quality and maturity.

Milestones in 2020

Messi's year, in pictures

Standout fixtures

After four league matches without scoring, Messi found the target four times against Eibar. It was the sixth time he had managed such a feat in his career (or seventh if you count the five he put past Bayer Leverkusen in a Champions League game in 2012). Interestingly, his last quadruple had also come against Eibar back in 2017 at Camp Nou, where all of his four-goal hauls have taken place. On this occasion, Messi notched three of his four strikes in the first half.

On the eve of his 33rd birthday, Messi set up Ivan Rakitic for the only goal of the game, in the process making his 250th assist in a Barcelona shirt. Then on 19 July, during the final matchday of La Liga, La Pulga provided his 21st assist of the season, breaking the previous record of 20 set by Xavi.

With his converted penalty, Messi notched up the 700th goal of his career (630 with Barça and 70 with Argentina), joining a select club containing Josef Bican, Romario, Pele, Ferenc Puskas, Gerd Muller and Cristiano Ronaldo. He would also end the season with 25 league goals, outranking Telmo Zarra to become the first player to win the Pichichi award seven times. In receiving the accolade for a fourth consecutive season, he also equalled the winning streaks of Alfredo Di Stefano and Hugo Sanchez.

About reaching 700 goals:

"I want to thank everyone who helped me score 700 goals as a professional, both at my club and with the Argentina national team, as well as my family, friends and fans. Hopefully, with your help, there’ll be more to follow."

About his Pichichi and assists’ records:

"Individual objectives and awards are always the least important; I’d have preferred it to be accompanied by the league title like other years."

"Messi is 100 per cent football. It doesn’t matter who you are, you just have to watch and enjoy this guy. He’s on another level. With all respect to the other greats, there’s only one number one – it’s Leo. To play 311 games next to him, it was a dream. I enjoyed it so, so much. I just want to say this: ‘Thank you for everything, Leo, because you’ll never know how much it meant to me to play next to you." Ivan Rakitic to FIFA.com

"You look up to him obviously, but when you start sharing things with him, he is so transparent that, instead of telling him what you think of him, you feel more like asking him about his little kids or of reminding him of the time he took you out with his studs up in a Valencia-Barcelona game (laughs). When he becomes your captain, you’d go to war for him if he asked you to. Rodrigo de Paul to FIFA.com

"Lewandowski has a great chance this time around, as he won everything with his team last season. Ronaldo and Messi have dominated The Best in the past, but for me, the best is always Messi. He is my all-time favourite." Pablo Aimar to FIFA.com

All winners, including those of the FIFA Fan Award and the FIFA Fair Play Award, will be crowned on 17 December 2020 in a TV show broadcast live, starting at 19:00 CET.

To keep up with the latest news about The Best FIFA Football Awards™, visit FIFA.com, The Best FIFA Football Awards™ official Facebook page, FIFA on Twitter and FIFA on YouTube.

Join the discussion about who should win this year’s awards by using the hashtag #TheBest.