Lionel Messi was first added to FIFA back in 2005 shortly after his breakthrough to the Barcelona first team, and he hasn’t looked back since.
A multi-time owner of the highest rating in the game, Messi has boasted some of the best Ultimate Team cards in FIFA history.
Here’s a look back at his rating history.
An 18-year-old Messi boasted 88 dribbling and 87 acceleration when he made his debut in the FIFA series.
A modest rating of 78 signalled his emergence as an intriguing young player with a lot of room to grow, but it wouldn’t be long before his rating started to rise.
Up to 84 for his second FIFA appearance…and a 3* weak foot.
His Career Mode potential was up at 94 by this point, and understandably so after he bagged 14 goals in 26 games in 2006/07.
Messi secured a +2 upgrade to an 86 for FIFA 08, as well as a +11 boost to his goalkeeper handling stats. Obviously.
His best stats: Dribbling (95), Acceleration (95), Sprint Speed (95), Ball Control (94) and Short Pass (90).
The first time Messi would hit 90 would be in FIFA 09. To this day, he is yet to fall back under that rating.
He’d end up finishing second in the Ballon d’Or ratings in 2008, shortly after this game was released, so you knew an upgrade was coming.
Messi would start FIFA 10 Career Mode as a 90 but, by the time Ultimate Team was released, he had already jumped up to a 91.
A further two upgrades would come his way and Messi would end the game as a 95 overall.
Despite winning his first Ballon d’Or during the previous game cycle, Messi would retain his 90 rating for FIFA 11, which was still good enough to make him the best player on the game.
Before the year was up, Messi would earn four special cards, the highest of which sat at 96.
A big jump up to 94 for Messi, who was still the best player on the game at this point – 2 ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The introduction of Team of the Year and Team of the Season handed Messi 98 and 99 overall cards, the latter of which had 99 pace, 99 passing, 99 shooting and 99 dribbling. Not bad.
Messi would keep that 94 rating for FIFA 13, with a minor boost to shooting and passing but a small drop-off in dribbling.
It was at this point that Ronaldo started to win the Ballon d’Or battle, but Messi won the ratings war.
Ah, the Victor Ibarbo year.
When you weren’t busy throwing your controller through the wall as the Colombian wheeled away in celebration,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at 90min EN…