Happy Birthday Lionel Messi: 672 goals, 6 golden shoes and many other outstanding achievements of star footballer

Barcelona's star footballer Lionel Messi, considered one of the greatest of all times to play the sport turned 34 on Thursday, June 24. Messi, who has some umpteen records to his name which includes 34 titles with the club, most number of goals for a club and also the most number of assists, has taken the La Liga giants to some great heights in his time.

So, on his birth anniversary, let's take a look at some of his outstanding achievements and records:

Messi is the only player in history to win four prestigious awards -- Ballon d’Or, FIFA World Player, Pichichi Trophy and Golden Boot -- all in a single season. He achieved that feat in the year 2009-10.

Winning in 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, Messi is the only player to win six Golden Shoe awards. Along with that, Messi also has won the prestigious Ballon d'Or six times, which is the most for a player in history. Messi achieved that feat in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019. Messi is followed by Ronaldo in the list as he has won the award five times.

Messi also became the youngest player for Barcelona FC at the age of 22 to score 100 goals for Barcelona in official matches. He achieved that record in 2010. Messi also was the youngest player to score 200 goals for the club.

Messi's 91 goals in the year 2012 - 79 with Barçelona (59 in La Liga, 13 in the Champions League, 5 in the Copa del Rey and 2 in the Spanish Super Cup) and 12 for Argentina - still remains the record for the most number of goals by a player in a single calendar year.

Messi's latest and the huge record he achieved last year was when he surpassed Brazilian legend Pelé's 643 goals for Santos. Messi currently stands at 672 goals for Barcelona, which is the most for a single club by a football player.