India, June 29 -- Lionel Messi may have produced one of the greatest group-stage performances in FIFA World Cup history, but it still wasn't enough to earn him the No. 1 spot in FIFA's official power rankings from the preliminary stage.

The Argentina captain, who celebrated his 39th birthday last week, finished second among all attacking players despite a record-breaking run that powered the reigning world champions to a perfect group-stage campaign.

Battling injury concerns before the tournament, Messi announced his arrival in spectacular fashion with a hat-trick against Algeria. He followed it up with a brace against Austria to become the highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history across both the men's and women's tournaments.

He t...