2026 World Cup: Lionel Messi, the record-breaking man

22.06.26 FT World Cup

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With a sensational hat-trick in Argentina’s opening 3-0 victory at the World Cup finals, Lionel Messi has once again cemented his legendary status in tournament history.

La Pulga added three more goals to his tally, reaching an incredible 16 goals in World Cup finals. The Inter Miami forward has now matched Miroslav Klose’s historic record as the tournament’s all-time top scorer.

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Messi also equaled another Klose milestone, becoming just the second player to notch 17 wins in World Cup finals. But that’s not all—at 38 years and 357 days old, the 2022 world champion became the oldest player to ever record a hat-trick in World Cup history, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo, who was 33 years and 130 days when he netted three against Spain.

The former FC Barcelona star is now only the second player ever to score in five different World Cup editions (2006, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026). Only Cristiano Ronaldo had achieved this feat before him.

Messi’s other World Cup records

Even before this latest hat-trick, Leo Messi was already Argentina’s all-time top scorer in World Cup history, ahead of Gabriel Batistuta (10), Diego Maradona (8), Guillermo Stábile (8), Mario Kempes (6), and Gonzalo Higuaín (5).

Now, he’s also surpassed Brazil’s Ronaldo (15 goals) to become the top South American scorer in World Cup history with 16 strikes.

And there’s more: Messi has now scored his fifth and sixth World Cup goals from outside the box, breaking the record previously held by Brazilian legend Rivellino (5). He had already found the net from distance against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran in 2014, and against Mexico in 2022.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

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