{"id":3574,"date":"2026-07-20T05:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T09:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/?post_type=news&#038;p=3574"},"modified":"2026-07-20T06:47:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T10:47:45","slug":"lionel-messi-world-cup-records","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/news\/lionel-messi-world-cup-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi: the eternal GOAT bows out with 21 World Cup goals and a sixth-tournament final"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Lionel Messi\u2019s sixth World Cup ended the way few would have scripted: agonisingly close, but without the trophy.<\/strong> Argentina lost 1\u20130 after extra time to Spain in the final at MetLife Stadium on 19 July, Ferran Torres scoring in the 106th minute after a goalless 90. Messi still leaves the tournament, and international football, as one of its greatest-ever scorers: 8 goals and 4 assists in 2026 took his career World Cup tally to 21, second all-time behind only Kylian Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s 22, and passing Miroslav Klose\u2019s long-standing 16 along the way.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Lionel Messi\u2019s World Cup career, by the numbers<\/h2>\n<p>No player has stood across this many categories the way Messi now does.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th style=\"text-align:left\">Record<\/th><th style=\"text-align:left\">Detail<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>World Cups played<\/strong><\/td><td>6 (2006\u20132026): first man ever<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>World Cup goals<\/strong><\/td><td>21: second all-time, one behind Mbapp\u00e9 (22)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Tournaments scored in<\/strong><\/td><td>5 of 6 (all but 2010)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Argentina caps<\/strong><\/td><td>200+<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2026 World Cup<\/strong><\/td><td>8 goals, 4 assists: Golden Boot runner-up; lost the final<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n<h2>Six World Cups, one of one<\/h2>\n<p>Messi\u2019s run to a sixth World Cup, opening with a hat trick against Algeria in June, matched a feat no other player has managed. Along the way he also passed 200 caps for Argentina. That hat trick made him just the second man to score at five different World Cups, and he added to his tally through the rest of the tournament before Argentina fell in the final.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Messi\u2019s goals at every World Cup<\/h2>\n<p>From a teenager in 2006 to a two-time finalist bowing out at 39, here is how Messi built his way to 21.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th style=\"text-align:left\">Tournament<\/th><th style=\"text-align:left\">Goals<\/th><th style=\"text-align:left\">Note<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>2006<\/strong><\/td><td>1<\/td><td>Scored on debut v Serbia &amp; Montenegro<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2010<\/strong><\/td><td>0<\/td><td>\u2013<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2014<\/strong><\/td><td>4<\/td><td>Golden Ball; lost the final<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2018<\/strong><\/td><td>1<\/td><td>\u2013<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2022<\/strong><\/td><td>7<\/td><td>Won the World Cup; Golden Ball<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2026<\/strong><\/td><td>8<\/td><td>Golden Boot runner-up; lost the final<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Total<\/strong><\/td><td>21<\/td><td>Second all-time (Mbapp\u00e9 leads with 22)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n<h2>The eternal GOAT bows out<\/h2>\n<p>Messi played the milestone down during the tournament: \u201cthey are stats and nothing more,\u201d he said after the Algeria hat trick. His manager Lionel Scaloni had no such restraint: \u201cAt a loss for words about Leo. What can I say? He\u2019s incredible.\u201d Messi leaves international football with the 2022 World Cup already won, a second final reached in 2026, and only Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 ahead of him on the all-time scoring list. Read the full picture in <a href=\"\/ca\/news\/world-cup-all-time-top-scorers\/\">the all-time World Cup top scorers<\/a> and see how <a href=\"\/ca\/news\/kylian-mbappe-world-cup-goals\/\">Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 claimed the record<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-msi1\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">How many World Cups has Lionel Messi played?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Six (2006\u20132026). He is the first player in history to appear at six World Cups.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-msi2\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">How many World Cup goals does Messi have?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Twenty-one. He is second on the all-time list behind Kylian Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s 22, after finishing his international career at the 2026 World Cup.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-msi3\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Has Messi won the World Cup?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Yes. Messi captained Argentina to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and won the Golden Ball. He returned in 2026 and reached a second final, losing 1-0 to Spain after extra time.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-msi4\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">How old was Messi at the 2026 World Cup?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">He turned 39 during the tournament, on 24 June 2026. His hat trick against Algeria that month made him the oldest player to score three goals in a World Cup match.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Records correct as of the final whistle at the 2026 World Cup, 19 July 2026.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Messi\u2019s sixth World Cup ended the way few would have scripted: agonisingly close, but without the trophy. Argentina lost 1\u20130 after extra time to Spain in the final at MetLife Stadium on 19 July, Ferran Torres scoring in the 106th minute after a goalless 90. Messi still leaves the tournament, and international football, as&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3591,"featured_media":3580,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"messi world cup","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Lionel Messi: 21 World Cup goals, GOAT bows out | Squawka","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Lionel Messi ended his sixth World Cup with 21 goals and 4 assists, second all-time behind Mbapp\u00e9, after Argentina\u2019s 1-0 extra-time final loss to Spain.","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"news-category":[],"class_list":["post-3574","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"external_featured_image_url":"","hide_featured_image_pattern":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.0 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lionel Messi: 21 World Cup goals, GOAT bows out | Squawka<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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He is the first player in history to appear at six World Cups.","inLanguage":"en-CA"},"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/news\/lionel-messi-world-cup-records\/#faq-question-msi2","position":2,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/news\/lionel-messi-world-cup-records\/#faq-question-msi2","name":"How many World Cup goals does Messi have?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Twenty-one. He is second on the all-time list behind Kylian Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s 22, after finishing his international career at the 2026 World Cup.","inLanguage":"en-CA"},"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/news\/lionel-messi-world-cup-records\/#faq-question-msi3","position":3,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/news\/lionel-messi-world-cup-records\/#faq-question-msi3","name":"Has Messi won the World Cup?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes. Messi captained Argentina to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and won the Golden Ball. He returned in 2026 and reached a second final, losing 1-0 to Spain after extra time.","inLanguage":"en-CA"},"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/news\/lionel-messi-world-cup-records\/#faq-question-msi4","position":4,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/news\/lionel-messi-world-cup-records\/#faq-question-msi4","name":"How old was Messi at the 2026 World Cup?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"He turned 39 during the tournament, on 24 June 2026. His hat trick against Algeria that month made him the oldest player to score three goals in a World Cup match.","inLanguage":"en-CA"},"inLanguage":"en-CA"}]}},"yoast_title":"Lionel Messi: 21 World Cup goals, GOAT bows out | Squawka","yoast_description":"Lionel Messi ended his sixth World Cup with 21 goals and 4 assists, second all-time behind Mbapp\u00e9, after Argentina\u2019s 1-0 extra-time final loss to Spain.","yoast_keyword":"messi world cup","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/3574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3591"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/3574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8418,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/3574\/revisions\/8418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3574"},{"taxonomy":"news-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-category?post=3574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}