🐐 Messi sets another record with his 19th World Cup goal | OneFootball

🐐 Messi sets another record with his 19th World Cup goal | OneFootball

In partnership with

Yahoo sports
Icon: OneFootball

OneFootball

¡28 June 2026

🐐 Messi sets another record with his 19th World Cup goal

Article image:🐐 Messi sets another record with his 19th World Cup goal

Lionel Messi is not messing around at this FIFA World Cup.

After closing in on, matching, and then surpassing the record for most goals in World Cup history, Argentina’s No. 10 keeps adding more milestones to his name.


OneFootball Videos


He started Saturday’s (27) match against Jordan on the bench.

But he came on in the second half (61') and reached 19 World Cup goals with a free-kick.

Messi has now become the player with the longest scoring streak in World Cup matches: SEVEN.

He had been tied with Just Fontaine and Jairzinho.

The Frenchman scored in all six matches he played at the 1958 edition, where he finished as top scorer with 13 goals — a tally that still has not been surpassed.

Meanwhile, the “World Cup Hurricane” reached the same mark across all six possible matches during Brazil’s third world title in 1970. 

Messi’s run began at the Qatar World Cup, when he scored in the round of 16 (Australia), quarter-finals (Netherlands), semi-finals (Croatia) and final (France).


He left 👑 Pelé behind in the 1st round

Messi had the same 21 goal involvements as PelĂŠ in World Cups before this edition of the tournament began.

The King scored 12 goals and provided nine assists across 14 matches between the 1958 and 1970 World Cups.

The Albiceleste star, meanwhile, had 13 goals and eight assists in 26 games since the 2006 World Cup. 

He moved up to the already mentioned 18 goals before this Saturday’s match after scoring three times against Algeria and twice against Austria. And he has already added to that tally.


🔥Most matches and deadly in every round

Messi made his 29th World Cup appearance. No one has played more matches.

And he is also the player with the most wins: 19.

He shares with Cristiano Ronaldo the record for most World Cups played in on the pitch: six.

Ochoa was also called up for six editions of the tournament, but stayed on the bench in 2006 and 2010. He was the backup to Oswaldo Sánchez and Óscar Pérez, respectively. 

Argentina’s No. 10 is also the only player to score in every stage of a World Cup since the format began including a round of 16.

He achieved that at the Qatar World Cup after scoring in every knockout round (already mentioned here) and in the group-stage matches against Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

He only failed to find the net in the win over Poland, in the third Group C match. 

The aforementioned Fontaine and Jairzinho scored in every stage of the 1958 and 1970 World Cups, respectively. But those editions went straight to the quarter-finals. 


⚽ Top scorer for the first time?

Messi ends the group stage as the leading scorer of the 2026 World Cup.

In other words, he will enter the knockout stage defending that status and chasing something he has never achieved: the Golden Boot at a World Cup.

He came close in Qatar with seven goals, but MbappĂŠ scored one more.

Only two Argentine players have managed that feat: Guillermo Ståbile in 1930 (eight goals) and Mario Kempes in the 1978 title-winning campaign (six goals). 

Messi only failed to score at the 2010 World Cup. The breakdown of his goals is: 2006 (one), 2014 (four), 2018 (one), 2022 (seven) and 2026 (six so far).


This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.


📸 David Ramos - 2026 Getty Images

View publisher imprint