15 best soccer moments of 2016

12. Messi scores 500th club goal

It’s hard these days to put a list together of best soccer anything without including Lionel Messi on it somewhere. The little Argentine forward has been smashing records in recent years and many have just become accustomed to his jaw-dropping performances. Unsurprisingly, he continued to impress in 2016.

Messi and Barcelona had a pretty good 2015-16, winning the league and cup double, and the Argentine has gotten off to another good start this campaign, reaching the latest in a long line of personal milestones in November. In a match against Sevilla, he scored his 500th goal for Barcelona. Of those, 320 came in La Liga, 90 more came in the Champions League and the rest were spread out across various cup competitions.

It’s been a remarkable journey for Messi, who scored his first senior goal in a victory over Albacete way back in 2005. He almost scored twice in that match, and with two near-identical goals — lobbing the keeper after being played through by Ronaldinho — but the first was flagged for offside.

Messi became Barca’s all-time leading scored a long time ago, but his 500th goal gave us another opportunity to appreciate his unique greatness. The good news is he isn’t finished, and will continue to amaze and delight fans for at least another few years.