Lionel Messi and his insane list of FIFA World Cup records

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The Football Faithful

·22. Juli 2026

Lionel Messi and his insane list of FIFA World Cup records

Lionel Messi will leave behind an incredible legacy after playing what was very likely his last ever match in the FIFA World Cup.

The Argentina captain was not able to lead the national team to glory again, as La Albiceleste lost 1-0 to Spain after extra-time last Sunday.

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But Messi may well go down as the greatest player in the competition’s history after setting an unfathomable number of records this summer and throughout his career.

The only player who can possibly come close to knocking the former Barcelona star off his perch is Kylian Mbappe, who overtook Messi as the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup with his 22nd goal in the third-place play-off.

We have compiled all of the World Cup records Messi has broken or matched over the past 20 years, and the length of the list alone is stunning. Though there is also an unwanted one right at the very end…

Read – Lionel Messi opens up on ‘immense pain’ of World Cup final defeat

Lionel Messi list of FIFA World Cup records:

Joint-most tournaments: 6 (tied with Cristiano Ronaldo and Guillermo Ochoa)
Joint-most appearances in the final: 3 (tied with Cafu)
The oldest footballer to play in the final: 39 years of age
The oldest player to score a hat-trick: 38 years of age
Only player to win the Golden Ball twice.
Only player to score in group stage, round of 32, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
Most appearances: 34
Most starts: 31
Most appearances as captain: 27
Most wins: 23
Most goals for Argentina: 21
Most goals from outside the box: 7
Longest scoring streak: 9 games
Longest scoring streak in the knockout stage: 6

The last #FIFAWorldCup Final was absolute cinema 🍿
– Sonntag, 19. Juli 2026

Most assists: 12
Most assists in the knockout stage: 10
Most big chances created: 24
Most shots – 139
Most shots on target – 64
Most expected goals – 19.6xG
Most expected assists – 11.1xA
Most successful passes in the final third – 639
Most passes played into the box – 236
Most successful crosses – 40
Highest total ball carry distance – 9,136 metres
Most dribbles completed – 137
The first player to play his club football outside of Europe and score eight goals in one tournament.
The first player to miss two penalties in one tournament (excluding shootouts).

Read – The best World Cup records broken in the 2026 knockout stage