‘GOAT debate settled’, claims Messi advert

Just days after retiring from international football, Argentina’s Lionel Messi has claimed the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) debate is ‘settled’, not directly, but through a sponsorship advert shared on his official social media pages.

The clip promoting beer brand Michelob ULTRA shows a bar bill being printed out for Messi, listing ‘GOAT debate’ as the total, before it is stamped ‘settled’.

Messi, considered by many the best player ever to lace up a pair of boots, regularly downplays talks of him being the GOAT of the sport.

However, this is not the first time he has played into the debate backhandedly.

In June 2018, the Argentine had posed with actual live goats for a cover shoot for the Paper Magazine, ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

For over a decade, he and his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo have been engaged in the GOAT debate and while Messi has remained coy on the comparisons, Ronaldo has multiple times claimed to be the best-ever.