Messi Achieved The Guinness World Record Of Most FIFA World Cup Matches Played By A Player

Lionel Messi has surpassed Lothar Matthäus (Germany) for the record of most FIFA World Cup games played by a player after winning the 2022 World Cup final. After 36 years, Argentina won their second World Cup, which was followed by a 4-2 victory on penalties that gave them their third World Cup title.

Argentina increased their mark for the most successful team in penalty shootouts in FIFA World Cup competitions. Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Arjen Robben have all received six Man of the Match honours prior to the commencement of the 2022 World Cup.

After a streak of outstanding performances, Messi drew away from the competition, winning Man of the Match honours in five games, including the championship game.

In the quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands, Messi once again shown his brilliance by both assisting and scoring. The final 18 minutes saw Netherlands come back, thanks to a brace from replacement Wout Weghorst, but things went sour. Argentina won the subsequent penalty shootout 4-3 after Messi converted their first attempt.

Messi put on arguably his best World Cup performance to date against Croatia in the semifinals, controlling every aspect of Argentina's 3-0 victory. Messi scored a penalty in the first half before giving Julián lvarez a brilliant assist in the second. Rafael Márquez (Mexico) had held the title for the most FIFA World Cup appearances as captain, but Messi broke it by leading his nation for the 18th time at this tournament.

Meanwhile, Messi played in Argentina's group-stage match against Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 World Cup, making his tournament debut. Within minutes, Messi gave Hernán Crespo an assist before putting the game away with a 6-0 triumph. At the time, Messi was 18 years old, making him the sixth-youngest goal scorer in competition history. Pelé holds the record for the FIFA World Cup's youngest goal scorer. On June 19, 1958, in Gothenburg, Sweden, he scored for Brazil against Wales at the age of 17 years, 239 days.

Furthermore, Messi made his fifth appearance at the FIFA World Cup in 2022, tying the record for the most tournament appearances by a player.