Lionel Messi did it again. The Argentina captain came off the bench against Jordan on Saturday, stepped up to a free kick in the 61st minute, and buried his 19th career World Cup goal. That number alone is ridiculous. But the real story here is the streak he just put together.
Messi has now scored in seven consecutive World Cup matches. That’s a record. The previous mark of six was shared by Just Fontaine (1958) and Jairzinho (1970). Fontaine scored in every game of that single tournament. Jairzinho did the same for Brazil in 1970. Messi’s run started back in Qatar, where he scored in the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final. He kept it going this year with goals against Algeria and Austria in the group stage, then added the free kick against Jordan. Seven straight matches across two World Cups. Nobody else has done that.
The 19 goals are also a record. He passed the old mark earlier in this tournament. And here’s another one: Messi now has 29 World Cup appearances, more than any player in history. He also has 19 wins, which is the most all time. He shares the record for most World Cups played (six) with Cristiano Ronaldo, though Guillermo Ochoa also made six rosters — he just didn’t see the field in two of them.
Messi is the only player to score in every stage of a World Cup since the round of 16 was introduced. He did that in Qatar, scoring in the group stage (against Saudi Arabia and Mexico), the round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal and final. Fontaine and Jairzinho scored in every stage of their tournaments too, but those went straight to the quarterfinals. Messi’s path was longer.
He heads into the knockout rounds as the leading scorer of the 2026 World Cup with six goals. That puts him in position for something he’s never done: finish as the tournament’s top scorer. He came close in Qatar with seven, but Kylian Mbappe scored eight. Only two Argentines have ever led a World Cup in goals: Guillermo Stabile in 1930 (eight) and Mario Kempes in 1978 (six).
Messi’s goal breakdown across his six World Cups: one in 2006, four in 2014, one in 2018, seven in 2022 and six so far in 2026. He only failed to score at the 2010 tournament. The man is 38 years old and still setting records. What else is there to say.
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