Along with Cristiano Ronaldo, Antonio Carbajal, Lothar Matthaus, Rafa Marquez, and Andres Guardado, Messi is one of only six players to have participated in five World Cups.
In the Qatar 2022 World Cup final, Messi appeared in his 26th World Cup, breaking Lothar Matthaus’ record.
In his 19 World Cup appearances as captain, Messi has set a record. Rafa Marquez (17) and Diego Maradona come after him (16). In the history of the World Cup, Messi logged 2,314 of the most minutes. In the Qatar 2022 final, he surpassed Paolo Maldini’s previous mark of 2,217 minutes.
Only Messi has contributed an assist in five World Cups. Pele, Grzegorz Lato, Diego Maradona, and David Beckham are his main rivals because they each scored in three games. The record for the most assists in the knockout stage is shared by Pele and Messi (6). Argentina’s World Cup scoring leader with 13 goals is Messi. Gabriel Batistuta (10), Diego Maradona (8), Guillermo Stabile (8), Mario Kempes (6), and Gonzalo Higuain follow him in the rankings (5).
Only Messi has scored in the World Cup while still a teenager, adult, and senior. Pele fell four months short of achieving the same. The time between Messi’s first and most recent World Cup goals was 16 years and 184 days. Cristiano Ronaldo, who has played in the World Cup for 16 years and 160 days, has the next-largest career span.
Messi has received the Player of the Match award an unprecedented 11 times since it was first given out in 2002. Wesley Sneijder and he both received four in Brazil 2014, which is a record for one edition. Sneijder received the same number in South Africa in 2010. Miroslav Klose has participated in a record-tying 17 World Cup triumphs. Messi has 16 at the moment.