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Al-Barghout continues to break records with his sixth World Cup appearance
Lionel Messi, the captain of the Argentina national team, opened the gates of tango in the 2026 World Cup match against Algeria, setting historic numbers.
After scoring a goal that was disallowed by the referee for offside in the 5th minute, he received the ball outside the penalty area, penetrated and then fired a rocket into Luca Zidane’s net in the 17th minute.
Messi’s goal came in his sixth World Cup game, 20 years after his first against Serbia in 2006.
As the French “Statesfoot” network informs, Messi has scored a goal in 5 different versions of the World Cup, repeating the record of his rival, the captain of the Portuguese national team, Cristiano Ronaldo.
But Don can keep the number again by scoring in his sixth game if he scores against the Democratic Republic of Congo in Group 11 this Wednesday night.
According to statistics specialist “Mister Sheep”, Messi became the third oldest player to score a goal in the history of the World Cup at 38 years and 357 days, surpassing Ronaldo’s record (37 years and 292 days).
Messi is preceded only by Roger Milla, the legend of Cameroon, who participated at the age of 42 years and 39 days, as well as the Portuguese Pepe at 39 years and 283 days.
Ronaldo can overtake Messi and Pepe on this list if he scores against DRC or any other game in the current campaign.
Messi became the first player in World Cup history to score against 11 different teams, overtaking Germany’s Jurgen Klinsmann and Miroslav Klose and Brazil’s Ronaldo, who each scored against 10 teams.
According to Opta, this is Messi’s 5th goal in the World Cup from outside the penalty area, repeating the record set by Brazilian Roberto Rivelino since 1966.
In addition, Messi scored his 14th World Cup goal in his sixth appearance at the tournament, leveling France star Kylian Mbappe, who scored a brace against Senegal hours earlier, as well as Germany’s Gerd Muller.
Messi, Mbappe and Muller are tied for third on the all-time top scorers list, with only Klose (16 goals) and Brazil’s Ronaldo (15 goals) ahead of them.
The match between Argentina and Algeria at the Arrowhead Stadium in the early hours of Wednesday is part of the opening round of Group 10 at the 2026 World Cup, a group that also includes Jordan and Austria.
