Records Lionel Messi Broke to Help Argentina Reach World Cup Final

And Lionel Messi was at the heart of his country"s success as he has always been throughout the entirety of this competition. The Argentine opened the scoring and also contributed to Julian Alvarez"s second. Infact, he had a hand in the trio of goals scored by the South American outfit.

The Paris Saint German forward scored from the spot in the 34th minute, being involved in a counter-attack that lead to Julian Alvarez"s first of the night five minutes later. Alvarez then sealed his brace in the 69th minute thanks to Messi"s fantastic solo run into the Croatian box.

Given the kind of stunt the Croatians pulled off against Brazil, they were expected to stage a very tough opponent for La Albiceste but Scaloni"s side made quick work of the Europeans in their semi-final encounter.

Lionel Messi has been invincible and in wonderful form for Argentina throughout this World Cup campaign. Heading into the game against Croatia, La Pulga had a tally of 10 World cup goals, after his penalty against Netherlands had placed him on par with Argentine legend, Gabriel Batistuta. But that record was not to destined to live for another day as the 7-time Ballon d"Or winner smashed it in the 34th minute of play.

1.) Most number of goals scored by an Argentine at the World cup finals

Prior to Qatar 2022, Lionel Messi didn"t have a decent World Cup performance in terms of goals scored. Having played at Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018, the 7-time Ballon d"Or winner had found the back of the net only six times across these four editions of the competition. A goal in 2006, four at Brazil eight years later when Argentina made it to the final and one at Russia four years ago, La Pulga"s national showing was well behind his potential as one of the all-time greats. Messi failed to find the back of the net at South Africa 12 years ago, despite Argentina scoring 10 goals in the competition.

However, the Paris Saint German forward has almost doubled his total World cup tally just here at Qatar. Courtesy of goals against Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Australia, Netherlands and Croatia, La Pulga tops the goalscoring charts alongside France"s Kylian Mbappe.

Having engulfed Guillermo Stable and Diego Maradona"s eight with his strike against Australia, Messi"s opener against Croatia also meant the 35-year old overtook Gabriel Batistuta as the Argentine with the most number of goals at the World Cup(11 goals), the latter having scored 10 during his national career(3 in 1994, 5 in 1998 and 1 in 2002).

2.) Equals record for the most number of games at the World Cup

Not too many players get lucky to play at more than four World Cups.
Most quotidian players get to appear at three while the elites and legends are often fortuitous to get a fourth. But that list excludes Lionel Messi as the Paris Saint German forward has played at five different World Cup tournaments, alongside his long-time rival, Cristiano Ronaldo.

That"s thanks to his longevity and grit, how"s he"s managed to push through times of little fitness, injuries, how he has managed to sustain himself as a player and also partly due to being privileged to break onto the global scene early on, considering the fact that the Argentine played his first World Cup when he was barely 19 years of age.

Messi"s cap against Croatia marked his 25th at a FIFA World Cup match(3 in 2006, 5 in 2010, 7 in 2014, 4 in 2018, 6 in 2022) equalling Germany"s Lothar Matthaus in the process(2 in 1982, 7 in 1986, 7 in 1990, 5 in 1994 and 4 in 1998).

Coming off a disappointing campaign at South Korea & Japan 2022, in which they were eliminated in the group stage, Argentina have always reached the knock-out stages of every World Cup they"ve played since 2006, when Messi made his debut. In addition, they"ve reached the final twice (2014 and 2022) which perfectly explains why Lionel Messi has played in 25 different World Cup matches. So much consistency and lastingness.

3.) Equals record for the most number of assists by an Argentine at the World Cup

Alongside scoring against the Croatians, the Argentine also cooked up Alvarez"s second goal with a world-class assist, an assist only few players are capable of replicating. Asides the aesthetics of this artwork, Messi"s assist (his 8th at the World Cup) also drew him level with his predecessor, Diego Maradona, who also made eight assists throughout his World Cup career.

Every football fan who knows Leo can testify to one thing; there"s one indistinguishable feature, one inseperable characteristic possessed by the quintessential Messi. It"s his playmaking potential and ability to create goal scoring chances. As much as he has the capacity to find the back of the net in crucial situations, Lionel Messi has the right techniques to deliver those killer passes that often lead to goals. His ability to read the entire game and positioning of the opposition team like a preschool book coupled with his canny and precise sense of judgement have moulded him into the perfect playmaker he is.

4.) Equals record for the most number of goal contributions at the World Cup

With a goal and an assist on Tuesday night, Messi hit 5 goals and 3 assists respectively in the tournament placing him on par(11 goals, 8 assists) with the likes of Ronaldo Nazario(15 goals, 4 assists), Gerd Muller(14 goals, 5 assists) and Miroslav Klose(16 goals, 3 assists) for the most goals plus assists(19) at the World Cup since 1966.

5.) Most number of MOTM"s at the World Cup

Messi"s stats truly speaks for itself. The Argentine"s masterclass throughout La Albiceste"s sensational run to the finals have earned him four Man of the Match Awards(against Poland, Australia, Netherlands and Croatia). This serves as the highest number of Man of the match awards given to a single player at a World Cup tournament alongside Arjen Robben and Lionel Messi himself in 2014.

Messi"s Budweiser man of the match performance also means the Argentine has now won 10 Man of the Match Awards across all World Cup matches, 3 more than Cristiano Ronaldo"s seven.

Main image credit Embed from Getty Images