All sports have a debate on who the GOAT is, even NASCAR has been having that debate for a very long time. There’s a simple reason for that – there are just so many excellent athletes and sportspersons competing, which makes singling one person out very difficult. However, with his heroics in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final, Lionel Messi might have ended that debate in soccer.

Blatantly branding a particular athlete as a legend or a great is a relatively simple job. However, there’s a lot of subjectivity involved as there are multiple factors involved and someone might prefer one player over the other. There are no right or wrong answers. But labeling someone as the greatest of all time – singling out just one person to be the greatest – will always spark furious debate. For soccer, that debate had been raging on for years.

Some felt it was Pele, others preferred Maradona. Newer generations hadn’t witnessed the earlier legends like Pele and Maradona. So they went for contemporary icons such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi is now in a league of his own

Both those players have won similar accolades and have indistinguishable stats. It was very difficult to differentiate between the two, as both of them enjoyed glorious careers. However, with Messi’s FIFA World Cup victory with Argentina, a strong majority of people feel the debate has been settled.

After a thrilling victory over France, Lionel Messi secured his first FIFA World Cup trophy. The Little Magician from Argentina now has won every honor possible to win in soccer.

Be as it may, NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson took the opportunity to congratulate the country and its football team for this triumph of epic proportions. He posted a congratulatory message on his Twitter handle that said, “Congratulations 🇦🇷#WorldCupFinal”

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It was a match that yo-yoed, and had everyone on the edge of their seats; even someone who probably has been through such affairs during his time racing.

Parallels between Jimmie Johnson and Lionel Messi

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It would be difficult to draw parallels between NASCAR and soccer, given they are two very different sports requiring very different skill sets and qualities. But Jimmie Johnson, in a way, has been through the journey that Messi was on until last night.

Johnson was a phenomenal driver during his time racing. While he may not have won something right at the start of his career, there was enough evidence to prove his quality. Just the fact that a team like Hendrick Motorsports was ready to bet on him showed the potential the Californian had.

In his first four full seasons, Johnson had two fifth-place finishes and two second-place finishes. But the real magic began to happen in 2006 when he won his first Cup Series. From that moment on, he just couldn’t stop winning.

5 consecutive Cup Series wins put him amongst the best of the best, while also setting a new record. More than that, the 2010 Cup Series win came under tough conditions. He made up a 15-point gap in the last race of the season at Homestead.

He completed the full set of 7 Championships after a gap – winning one in 2013, and another in 2016. Those wins put him alongside Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt as the only people to have won 7 titles.

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He may not have gotten that 8th title, which would have conclusively put him above all. However, he is forever going to be remembered as a legend.