Lionel Messi, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, created an unwanted record on Monday (June 22) during Argentina’s second Group J match of the FIFA World Cup 2026. In the fixture taking place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, the 38-year-old had a chance to open the scoring in the ninth minute from the penalty spot after Argentina were awarded a spot kick following a foul by an Austrian defender inside the box. However, Messi failed to capitalize on the opportunity and missed the penalty.
The miss was Messi’s third penalty failure in FIFA World Cup matches, the most by any player in the tournament’s history.
7/3 – Lionel Messi ist der Spieler mit den meisten Elfmeterversuchen (7) sowie vergebenen Elfmetern (3) in
der WM-Historie (exklusive Elfmeterschießen). Knapp. pic.twitter.com/BMRwYbxrL8
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) June 22, 2026
Messi first failed to convert a penalty at the FIFA World Cup during Argentina’s group-stage match against Iceland in 2018. He was also unable to score from the spot in Argentina’s group-stage encounter against Poland at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Messi has taken seven penalties in FIFA World Cup matches, the most by any player in the tournament’s history, but has converted only four of them.
Messi breaks Klose’s record
30 minutes after failing to score a goal for Argentina from the penalty spot, Messi made amends in the 39th minute of the first half by finding the back of the net.
The goal in the 39th minute by Messi helped him etched his name in the history books as he now becomes the all-time leading goal-scorer in FIFA World Cup history.
Messi, who scored a hat-trick in Argentina’s opening match of this year’s FIFA World Cup, now has four goals in the 2026 edition and 17 goals overall in 28 FIFA World Cup appearances.
He has scored three goals each against Nigeria and Algeria, and two against France.
Messi scored his first-ever FIFA World Cup goal on June 16, 2006, against Serbia and Montenegro in Argentina’s group-stage match at Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.
He scored four goals in the 2014 edition of the tournament, one in 2018, seven in 2022 and has already found the net four times in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup.
