Lionel Messi is enjoying a magnificent 2022/23 season.
The little magician has found his feet at Paris Saint-Germain after an indifferent 2021/22 campaign and has shone on international duty.
To be honest, that last part is a serious understatement.
With his beloved Argentina, Messi won the 2022 World Cup, scoring seven goals at the tournament and winning the Golden Ball.
It was vintage Messi in Qatar, with those glittering performances recently earning him the prestigious FIFA Best Men’s Player award.
You wouldn’t think the guy was 35 years of age, would you?
As well as winning trophies and accolade galore, Messi is still keeping pace with the best around in terms of goal scoring.
At the time of writing, only four players boast a better goals-per-game ratio in 2022/23 than the Barcelona legend.
Not bad, eh?
The kind folks over at PopFoot have provided the key data, taking into account goals at both club and international level since the start of the season.
Let’s take a look at their 20-man list in full…
Who has the best goals-per-game ratio in 2022/23 so far?
20. M’Bala Nzola| 25 games | 14 goals | 0.56 goals-per-game
19. Harry Kane| 45 games | 26 goals | 0.58 goals-per-game
18. Mohamed Salah| 41 games | 24 goals | 0.59 goals-per-game
17. Christopher Nkunku| 29 games | 17 goals | 0.59 goals-per-game
16. Niclas Fullkrug| 30 games | 18 goals | 0.60 goals-per-game
15. Terem Moffi| 28 games | 17 goals | 0.61 goals-per-game
14. Jonathan David| 36 games | 22 goals | 0.61 goals-per-game
13. Marcus Rashford| 49 games | 30 goals | 0.61 goals-per-game
12. Neymar| 34 games | 21 goals | 0.62 goals-per-game
11. Folarin Balogun| 29 games | 18 goals | 0.62 goals-per-game
10. Ivan Toney| 27 games | 17 goals | 0.63 goals-per-game
9. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting| 30 games | 19 goals | 0.63 goals-per-game
8. Karim Benzema| 28 games | 18 goals | 0.64 goals-per-game
7. Wissam Ben Yedder| 35 games | 23 goals | 0.66 goals-per-game
6. Robert Lewandowski| 39 games | 27 goals | 0.69 goals-per-game
5. Lionel Messi| 42 games | 30 goals | 0.71 goals-per-game
4. Alexandre Lacazette| 28 games | 21 goals | 0.75 goals-per-game
3. Victor Osimhen| 29 games | 25 goals | 0.86 goals-per-game
2. Kylian Mbappe| 42 games | 40 goals | 0.95 goals-per-game
1. Erling Haaland| 39 games | 43 goals | 1.10 goals-per-gam
— PopFoot (@ThePopFoot) March 20, 2023
Messi ahead of Lewandowski? Yeah, we didn’t expect to see that either!
Haaland is just an absolute freak when it comes to scoring, while Messi’s partner-in-crime Mbappe isn’t far behind his goal machine rival.
Lacazette is the surprise name to feature in the top five, with the Frenchman now thriving back at Lyon after a difficult few years at Arsenal.