Messi Has 5 Games Left to Break a 68-Year-Old World Cup Record. Here’s What That Looks Like.

Argentina is three wins from becoming the first team in 64 years to repeat as World Cup champions. That alone would be a massive story. But Lionel Messi isn’t done hunting individual history either.

The defending champs face Switzerland in Saturday’s quarterfinal at Kansas City Stadium (9 pm ET, FOX/Telemundo/Peacock). Win that and they’re two games from a fourth World Cup title. Messi, who already broke Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record this tournament, now has his eyes on a mark that’s stood since 1958.

Just Fontaine scored 13 goals in six games for France that year. Nobody has matched it since. Messi has eight goals through four matches this World Cup, which puts him five short with a potential three games left if Argentina make the final. Long odds? Sure. But he’s already scored at least once in every match so far, including a brace against Mexico and a hat trick against Nigeria in the group stage.

The repeat drought

Only two nations have gone back-to-back in World Cup history. Italy did it first, winning in 1934 and 1938 under Vittorio Pozzo. The Azzurri were so dominant they also won Olympic gold in 1936 and didn’t lose from 1935 to 1939. Brazil followed two decades later, winning in 1958 and 1962 behind a 17-year-old Pelé and later Garrincha, who carried the team after Pelé got hurt early in the 1962 tournament.

Nobody has done it since. That’s 64 years of history Argentina could rewrite.

The individual chase

Fontaine’s 13-goal tournament is one of those records people assume will never fall. The game has changed. Defenses are more organized. Goalkeepers are better. Teams play more conservatively in knockout rounds. But Messi has already done things this World Cup that don’t follow the normal rules. Eight goals in four games is a ridiculous pace for any player at any stage of their career, let alone a 39-year-old.

The math is simple but brutal. He needs five goals in at most three games against better and better opposition. Switzerland’s defense has been stingy. A potential semifinal against Germany or Spain would be a different level entirely. Then a final against whoever emerges from the other bracket. One bad night and Fontaine’s record stays untouched for another four years at least.

But Messi has spent his entire career making the improbable look routine. And he’s got a whole nation pulling for both milestones at once.