The historic records Lionel Messi will look to break at the 2026 World Cup | OneFootball

The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada will be a special tournament, not only because the Argentina National Team will defend its world title, but also because it will possibly be the last one Lionel Messi plays, the star and leading figure of the Albiceleste, who will turn 39 during the tournament. However, the Rosario-born forward, who is still going strong, will have the chance to break several individual records.

First of all, with his presence in North America, Messi will reach six World Cup appearances and become the player with the most participations ever. Although he will have to share that record, because Cristiano Ronaldo (41) will also be there with Portugal and Guillermo Ochoa (40) with Mexico. The three of them will thus have six World Cups each, although it is worth noting that the goalkeeper did not play any minutes in the first two editions: Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010.

Behind those three will be the five appearances of illustrious names in world football such as Germany’s Lothar Matthäus, Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, and Mexico’s Rafael Márquez, Andrés Guardado, and Antonio Carbajal.

On the other hand, Messi will also try to become the top scorer in World Cup history, at least for now… The record belongs to Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who has 16. He is followed by Brazilian Ronaldo with 15, and another German: Gerd Müller, with 14. Where does Messi stand? Fourth, with 13, level with France’s Just Fontaine. The Argentine scored one in 2006, four in Brazil, one in Russia, and the rest in Qatar. Although Kylian Mbappé is the major threat in this regard because he also has 13 and is only 27 years old.

Messi celebrates his goal during the 2022 World Cup final (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)

Third, the former Barcelona player could become the tournament’s all-time top assist provider with the eight assists he currently has. The leader in that statistic is none other than Pelé, who at his peak recorded ten. The target is entirely within reach for Leo.

Finally, since Messi has two finals on his résumé—Brazil 2014 and Qatar 2022—if he reaches another final, he would enter the select group of players who have played in this kind of match the most times. The players to match are the Brazilians Pelé (1958, 1962, and 1970), Cafú (1994, 1998, and 2002), and Ronaldo (1994, 1998, and 2002), along with the Germans Matthäus (1982, 1986, and 1990) and Pierre Littbarski (1982, 1986, and 1990). Mbappé is another player with two and the potential to add more.

It is also worth noting that Messi has another mark he could extend, related to minutes played. He holds the record for most matches played with 26, ahead of Lothar Matthäus (25), Miroslav Klose (24), and Paolo Maldini (23). The tournament’s new format will allow up to eight matches to be played, so he could open up a huge gap. At the same time, he would further strengthen his record for minutes on the pitch, which stands at 2300.

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