Argentina national team leader Lionel Messi continued rewriting World Cup history by scoring his 20th goal in the tournament during the Round of 16 match against Cape Verde. This goal brought the Argentine several new records, Fox Sports reports, as conveyed by UNN.
Details
Thanks to this goal, Messi strengthened his own record for the number of goals scored at World Cups among men and women. In addition, he brought his tally in the current tournament to seven goals and single-handedly topped the scoring race, ahead of Frenchman Kylian Mbappé.
The Argentine also became the first footballer in history to score seven or more goals in two different World Cups. At the 2022 tournament, he also scored seven times, losing the race for the "Golden Boot" only to Mbappé.
Furthermore, Messi set a record for the longest scoring streak at World Cups, finding the net in eight consecutive matches. During this period, he scored 12 goals. He also became the first player with five consecutive scoring matches in World Cup knockout stages since the relevant statistics began being recorded in the 1960s.
The match against Cape Verde was already the 14th different opponent against whom Messi has scored at World Cups. This is also a tournament record. The closest pursuers – Jürgen Klinsmann, Ronaldo, and Miroslav Klose – scored against ten different national teams.
Reminder
The Argentina national team will face Egypt in the next round.