New Record For Lionel Messi, Argentina Star Becomes First Player In The World To...

Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest footballer of all time, entered his name in the history books on Friday (Saturday IST) by becoming the first player in the world to feature in 30 FIFA World Cup matches. Argentina’s Round of 32 match against Cape Verde in Miami on Friday is Messi’s 30th FIFA World Cup appearance.

No player in the world has played 30 or more matches in FIFA World Cup history.

Most appearances in FIFA World Cup

PLAYER	COUNTRY	MATCHES	EDITIONS
Lionel Messi	Argentina	30*	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026
Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	26	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026
Lothar Matthäus	Germany	25	1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998
Miroslav Klose	Germany	24	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
Paolo Maldini	Italy	23	1990, 1994, 1998, 2002
Luka Modric	Croatia	23	2006, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026
Manuel Neuer	Germany	23	2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026
Diego Maradona	Argentina	21	1982, 1986, 1990, 1994
Ivan Perisic	Croatia	21	2014, 2018, 2022, 2026
Uwe Seeler	West Germany	21	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
Władysław Żmuda	Poland	21	1974, 1978, 1982, 1986

Messi, who has scored six goals so far for Argentina in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup, is leading the attack for the three-time champions alongside Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez. He is back in the starting XI after not starting Argentina’s last Group J match against Jordan at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on June 27.

Against

Jordan, Messi came off the bench after the hour mark and scored his team’s third goal of the match in the 80th minute.

If Messi, who is the all-time highest goal-scorer in FIFA World Cup history, manages to score at least one goal against Cape Verde, he will become the first player in the world to score 20 goals in the FIFA World Cup. As of now, he has 19 goals to his name in 29 matches.

Most goals in FIFA World Cup

RANK	PLAYER	COUNTRY	GOALS	MATCHES	EDITIONS
1	Lionel Messi	Argentina	19	30*	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026
2	Kylian Mbappé	France	18	18	2018, 2022, 2026
3	Miroslav Klose	Germany	16	24	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
4	Ronaldo	Brazil	15	19	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
5	Gerd Müller	West Germany	14	13	1970, 1974
6	Just Fontaine	France	13	6	1958
	Harry Kane	England	13	15	2018, 2022, 2026
8	Pelé	Brazil	12	14	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
9	Sándor Kocsis	Hungary	11	5	1954
	Jürgen Klinsmann	West Germany	11	17	1990, 1994, 1998
	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	11	26	2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026

At least one goal against Cape Verde will also help Messi equal his career-best tally of seven goals in a single FIFA World Cup.

At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Messi played all seven matches for Argentina and scored seven goals, two of which came in the final against France on December 18, 2022, in Lusail.

In this year’s FIFA World Cup, Messi scored a hat-trick in Argentina’s first Group J match against Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on June 16 and found the back of the net twice against Austria in the next group-stage match played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on June 22.

If Argentina manage to get the better of Cape Verde in the Round of 32 match in Miami, they will face Egypt in the Round of 16 next week.