🚨Lionel Messi surpassed all expectations in this World Cup, enjoying an absolutely stellar campaign at 39 years of age! 🔥🤯✨
These are records he broke in WC 2026:
✅ Most World Cup tournaments played: 6 (shared)
✅ Only player to reach the World Cup knockout rounds 6 times
✅ Most assists in World Cups: 12
(surpassing 🇩🇪 Fritz Walter’s 9)
✅ Most goal contributions in World Cups: 33
(21 goals + 12 assists)
✅ Most consecutive World Cup matches scored in: 9 matches (2022-2026)
✅ Most consecutive World Cup matches scored or assisted in: 11 matches (2022-2026)
✅ Messi blitzed past 🇩🇪 Klose’s all time goals record (16) finishing up with 21, but Mbappe snatched this one away, reaching 22 in the 3rd place match!
✅ Most goals in World Cup group matches: 14
✅ Only player to score 7+ goals in multiple World Cups (shared with Mbappe)
✅ Most World Cup match wins: 23 (surpassing Klose’s 17)
✅ Most World Cup matches scored in: 16
✅ Most opening goals at the World Cup: 11
✅ Most outside the box goals at World Cups: 6
✅Only player to assist in 6 (and 5) different World Cups
✅ Oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick: 38y 357d
✅ Oldest player to score 5, 6, 7 and 8 goals at a World Cup: 39y 13d
✅ Oldest player (and youngest) to get a goal and assist in a single World Cup match: 39y 13d (and 18y 357d)
✅ Only player to play in three different World Cup finals (shared with Cafu)
✅ Only player to start three different World Cup finals
✅ Only player to captain three different World Cup finals
✅ Most official MOTM awards at World Cups: 16
✅ Most MOTM awards at a single World Cup: 5 in 2022 and 5 in 2026!
✅ Most World Cup appearances: 34
✅ Most minutes played at World Cups: 3,053
✅ Most World Cup appearances as captain: 27
At the age of 39, Messi made history! 🇦🇷🐐👏
