Lionel Messi has started the ongoing FIFA World Cup emphatically, scoring five goals in his first two matches, including a hat-trick in the tournament opener. The remarkable start comes exactly 10 years after the Argentina captain nearly retired from international football.
Since reversing that decision and returning to national duty, Messi has led Argentina to two Copa America titles and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the latter, he scored seven goals, including two in the final against France.
After netting five goals in his first two matches of the current tournament, Messi’s World Cup tally has risen to 18 goals, the highest by any player in the competition since 1930.
NO RECORD BEYOND HIS REACH
According to a BBC report12 of these 18 goals have come since he turned 35. Fourteen have been struck with his left foot, and four have come from outside the box.
Messi has also become the oldest player ever to score a World Cup hat-trick, at 38 years and 357 days.
The records do not stop there. He is now only the third player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive matches. Across that run, Messi has contributed to 12 goals, finding the net 10 times himself and setting up two others. And across 28 World Cup matches spanning six editions of the tournament, Messi has collected a record 13 Player of the Match awards.
The match against Austria on Monday saw Messi rewrite the record books once again. With his appearance in the game, he became the player with the most minutes played in FIFA World Cup history, taking his tally to 2,494 minutes.
THE GREATEST PLAYER?
With records continuing to tumble and Messi showing no signs of slowing down, the debate over the greatest player ever to grace the World Cup stage is bound to gather momentum once again.
Was it the legendary Pele, the only player to win three World Cups? Or was it Diego Maradona, the Argentine genius who carried his nation to glory and scored what is known as the Goal of the Century against England in the 1986 quarter-final?
As Messi continues to add new chapters to an already extraordinary World Cup journey, his claim to a place among the three greatest players ever to grace the tournament grows stronger with every match.
For football fans around the world, watching Messi at work is a joy unlike any other. As his remarkable story continues to unfold, all that remains is to savour it while it lasts.
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