Lionel Messi did it again. The guy just keeps finding new ways to rewrite the World Cup record book.
On Saturday, the Argentina captain came off the bench in the 61st minute against Jordan and ripped a free kick into the back of the net. That goal gave him No. 19 in World Cups. But the bigger story? That strike extended his scoring streak to seven consecutive World Cup matches. No one in the history of the tournament has ever done that.
He was tied with Brazil’s Jairzinho (1970) and France’s Just Fontaine (1958) at six straight. Both of those guys played their entire tournaments from start to finish. Messi’s run started in Qatar and hasn’t stopped.
A streak that spans two tournaments
Messi’s run began in the knockout rounds of the 2022 World Cup. He scored against Australia in the round of 16, the Netherlands in the quarterfinal, Croatia in the semifinal and France in the final. Then he picked up right where he left off this summer. He scored three times against Algeria and twice against Austria in the group stage before Saturday’s free kick against Jordan. That’s seven straight games with a goal.
Fontaine scored 13 goals in six matches in 1958, a single-tournament record that still stands. Jairzinho scored in every round of Brazil’s 1970 title run. But neither of them had the chance to extend their streak into a second World Cup. Messi did.
The guy has now played in 29 World Cup matches, more than any other player in history. He also holds the record for most wins (19) and is one of only two players to appear in six different World Cups. Cristiano Ronaldo is the other. Memo Ochoa technically made six squads too, but he was a backup in 2006 and 2010. Messi actually played.
He’s scoring at every stage again
Messi is the only player to score in every round of a World Cup since the tournament adopted the round of 16 format. He did it in 2022 — group stage, round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal, final. Fontaine and Jairzinho scored in every round too, but those tournaments had no round of 16. They went straight to the quarterfinals.
Messi finishes the group stage as the tournament’s leading scorer with six goals. That puts him in position to chase something he’s never done: win the Golden Boot. He came close in Qatar with seven goals, but Kylian Mbappé finished with eight. Only two Argentine players have ever led a World Cup in scoring: Guillermo Stábile in 1930 (eight goals) and Mario Kempes in 1978 (six goals).
His goal breakdown across five World Cups: one in 2006, four in 2014, one in 2018, seven in 2022 and six so far this year. The only tournament he failed to score in was 2010.
Messi has 13 goals and eight assists in World Cup play before this tournament, matching Pelé’s combined goal involvement of 21. Pelé had 12 goals and nine assists across 14 matches between 1958 and 1970. Messi has been doing it for longer — since 2006 — and keeps adding to the totals.
Saturday’s game was still going when Messi scored. But the record was already set. No matter what happens next, he owns a piece of World Cup history that nobody else can touch.
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