Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi has said the ongoing World Cup in Qatar is his best-ever tournament.
The 35-year-old scored his third goal in the competition in Qatar as Argentina beat Australia 2-1 to book a place in the quarterfinals.
Messi said this year’s competition is his best because he has his family around him as he nets his 789 goals through 1,000 career games.
The former Barcelona hit-man said his young children are now old enough to understand the importance of a World Cup.
“My family is always on my mind,” Messi told reporters after the game. “My children, because they are grown up and understand everything.
“They suffer it, they enjoy it… I am very happy to share these moments with them.
Messi explained that this is the first World Cup tournament he is attending with his grown-up children with his youngest children also attending their first World Cup.
“And it’s always the happiest,” Messi said, adding that his first son Thiago was not yet aware of what a World Cup is,” four years ago.
