Being in the semifinals guarantees Argentina to play another game in Qatar, the final or the duel for third place, so Messi has everything in his favor to reach 26 and establish a new record.
Messi had arrived in Qatar with 19 games played in the four World Cups he had previously played.
Throughout the tournament he became the Argentine player with the most World Cup matches, surpassing Javier Mascherano (20) and Diego Maradona (21).
In the round of 16, he reached the Italian Paolo Maldini (23) on the historic podium and in the quarterfinals the German Miroslav Klose (24), after which he only had Matthäus ahead.
In Germany 2006, the edition of his debut, Messi played three of the five games his team played. He then played the rest of Argentina’s games: the five in South Africa 2010, the seven in Brazil 2014 and the four in Russia 2018, to which he adds the now six that the National Team has in Qatar 2022.
To find Messi’s first match in a senior World Cup, one must go back to June 16, 2006, when Argentina faced Serbia and Montenegro on the second day of the group stage in Gelsenkirchen (Germany).
Messi started that game as a substitute but came into play in the 75th minute, instead of Maxi Rodríguez, and then signed his team’s sixth goal in the 6-0 victory, already in the 88th minute.
There began a long history for him in the competition, where until now he could never be champion. The closest he came was in Brazil in 2014, where Argentina were beaten 1-0 by Germany after extra time in the Maracanã final.
Matthäus, who is now 61 years old, could have been world champion, in Italy 1990.
He played his 25 World Cup matches spread over five editions: two in Spain 1982, seven in Mexico 1986, seven in Italy 1990, five in the United States 1994 and four in France 1998.
Messi had already equaled another record held by Matthäus -and another group of players- in Qatar, the number of final phases played in World Cups, with five.
They are not Messi’s only records in this World Cup.
In number of goals, he reached 10 and now shares with Gabriel Batistuta the honor of being the highest scoring Argentine player in the tournament. The Paris Saint-Germain star had arrived in the emirate with six goals.
That is still far from the absolute record for goals, which is Miroslav Klose with 16.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
