FIFA World Cup 2022: What records did Lionel Messi break?
Messi finally claimed the World Cup on the fifth attempt in Qatar, and the Argentinian superstar broke a number of records on the way.
Football
For players like Lionel Messi, there is no greater stage the World Cup.
And at 35, in his fifth and final appearance in the men's football showpiece, he finally claimed the trophy that had eluded him for so long.
In a stellar career, Messi has rewritten the record books for club and country. And he continued to do so in Qatar as he cemented his reputation as one of the greatest players ever to lace up a pair of boots.
Read on to find out what he achieved at the FIFA World Cup 2022…
What records has Messi broken at the FIFA World Cup 2022?
Appearances
Messi made his 22nd World Cup appearance for Argentina in their final group game against Poland, overtaking the late Diego Maradona's previous record for tournament appearances for his country
Messi took his tally to 26 in the final, passing Lothar Matthaus for record appearances at the World Cup Finals.
Goals
With 10 goals across several World Cup tournaments, Gabriel Batistuta had led the way for Argentinian marksmen.
But Messi's penalty in the semi-final against Croatia saw him overtake 'Batigol' with his 11th goal in his fifth World Cup.
And his two goals in the final took him to 13 placing him joint-fourth on the all-time list. He had previously found the net against Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Australia and the Netherlands.
Miroslav Klose holds the record of 16 World Cup goals.
Assists
On gameday two, Argentina faced a must-win encounter with Mexico having fallen to a shock defeat against Saudi Arabia in their tournament opener.
With the hopes of a nation on his shoulders, Messi stepped up.
His long-range strike opened the scoring, before assisting Enzo Fernandez’s wonder goal which sealed all three points.
That lay-off for the second goal would see him become the first player to assist at five separate men’s World Cup tournaments – 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and now 2022.
But that wasn’t the only bit of history he made by creating that goal.
Having already scored, the pass saw him become both the youngest and oldest player to score and assist in a single World Cup match in the history of the competition – he did against Serbia in 2006 when he was 18, and now against Mexico at 35.
His amazing pass to set up Nahuel Molina's opener against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals is in the runnng for best assist of the tournament.
And in the semi-finals, his superb run and pull-back for Julian Alvarez to score Argentina's third against Croatia saw him match Maradona's Argentinian record eight assists at World Cups.
Captaincy
Messi did break another of Maradona's records in Qatar.
The hero of 1986 wore the captain's armband 16 times for his nation at the World Cup. Messi matched that tally in the semi-finals before eclipsing it in the final.
And it was somewhat fitting that, in the first World Cup since Maradona's passing, his most illustrious successor in the number 10 shirt inspired Argentina to the World Cup glory.