Lionel Messi, the captain of Argentina and a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, has made history once more by becoming the first player to net a goal in each of the FIFA World Cup’s knockout rounds. At the Lusail Stadium, the 35-year-old converted his penalty shot past France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to give Argentina the lead. Messi now has goals in the FIFA World Cup group stages, round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship game.
Messi went up to take the penalty after France forward Ousmane Dembele fouled Angel Di Maria, sending Lloris the other way as he did so. In the round of 16, Messi scored Argentina’s first goal against Australia with a well placed shot that beat Matt Ryan in goal. Then, in the quarterfinal match against the Netherlands, he converted a penalty. Andries Noppert was defeated by Messi’s penalty shot into the right corner of the goal.
Messi went up to the plate to score with another penalty kick to give Argentina the lead in the semifinal match against Croatia. Messi surpassed Germany’s Lothar Matthaus to become the World Cup’s most-captured player while playing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final. The former Barcelona attacker entered the game for his 26th World Cup outing.
With six goals so far in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Messi has now eclipsed Kylian Mbappe of France as the tournament’s leading scorer. In addition, he increased his record as Argentina’s leading World Cup goal scorer, bringing it to 12 goals. Messi is also the only player to have recorded an assist in five World Cup tournaments. In terms of assists, he trails Pele, the famous player of Brazil, by only one (Pele has 10 assists, while Messi has 9).
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