List of Records Lionel Messi Has Broken With Argentina: It was a night full of emotions and memories where Argentina and France faced each other in the grand finale of the FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022. Lionel Messi finally got his hands on the trophy he wanted the most and was missing from his cabinet.
Talking about the game, it was another tactical masterclass of Lionel Scaloni as his plan of stopping the French defence, especially Kylian Mbappe, worked very well in the first half.
South American giants dominated the first half by scoring two goals in it. Lionel Messi scored from the spot in the 23rd minute after Ousmane Dembele tipped off Angel Di Maria in the box. Angel Doubled the lead thirteen minutes later.
However, Mbappe’s two goals in 97 seconds in the second half saw the match going to extra time. Messi scored another goal from the spot and made it 3-2.
It wasn’t the end, as Mbappe scored his third game goal and made it 3-3. In the penalty shoot-outs, Lionel Messi’s side beat France by 4-2 and claimed their third World Cup title, a moment Lionel Messi was waiting for for years.
With this performance in a historical game, Messi broke several records. Let’s take a look at those:
* Most Appearances in FIFA World Cup:
List of Records Lionel Messi Has Broken With Argentina After Lifting Coveted Trophy:
As soon as the referee blew the whistle to start the game, Lionel Messi became the player with the most appearances in FIFA World Cup games (26), surpassing Lothar Matthaus, a German player who played 25 FIFA World Cup games.
Behind Lothar Matthaus, Miroslav Klose sits third with 24 games, Paolo Maldini at fourth with 23, while Cristiano Ronaldo ranks fifth with 22 FIFA World Cup games.
* Only Player to Score in Each Knock-out Round:
Lionel Messi scored in the 23rd minute from the spot by sending Hugo Lloris the wrong way after Ousmane Dembele conceded the penalty after tipping off Angel Di Maria in the box.
By scoring that goal, the Argentine talisman became the only player in the history of football to achieve goals in each round of a single tournament.
Messi scored in the group stage, the round of 16, the quarterfinals, the semifinals, and the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
* The player with the Most Wins in the World Cup:
List of Records Lionel Messi Has Broken With Argentina After Lifting Coveted Trophy:
Argentina’s win over France in the World Cup final in a penalty shootout was Messi’s 17th win in FIFA World Cups; he equalled the record of Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who also won 17 World Cup games in his career.
* Most Minutes Played in the History of FIFA World Cup:
After playing each minute of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Messi broke the Italy legend Paolo Maldini’s record, who played 2,217 minutes in his World Cup career.
Before the final, Messi had played 2,194 minutes and needed 23 more minutes to break the record. However, he played all the last minutes and broke Maldini’s record.
* First Player to Win Two Golden Balls:
List of Records Lionel Messi Has Broken With Argentina After Lifting Coveted Trophy:
Even though he didn’t get his hands on the coveted trophy in 2014, he won the Golden ball, an award given to the “Best Player of the Tournament”. Yesterday, he received another golden ball after his all-around performance throughout the tournament.
Along with the records mentioned above, he broke some other records as well, like:
* The goal in yesterday’s game against France saw Lionel Messi becoming the player to score in most different World Cup games (14).
* Messi has become the first player with 20 direct goal contributions in World Cups since records began in 1966.
