Qatar 2022 is already savoring some of the matches it will host once it already knows several of the National Teams that will be competing on its fields. One of them, and one that got its ticket to the upcoming World Cup well in advance, is Argentina, which will be led once again by its star Lionel Messi.
On the back of the Rosarionativewill once again lay many of the Albiceleste ‘s hopes of winning their third FIFA World Cup after they cruelly lost that opportunity to Germany on both occasions in 1990 and 2014.
For Lionel Messi, Qatar 2022 also represents, probably, his last chance for revenge after Brazil 2014: at 35 years of age, his last high physical and footballing performance can still be expected.That is why the opportunity for the current Paris Saint-Germain player to break and impose new records in the history of the FIFA World Cup is latent.
Lionel Messi’s statistics in the FIFA World Cup
The FC Barcelona legend has participated in 4 FIFA World Cups so far: Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, and Russia 2018. In total, he has played 19 matches in this great tournament: 12 of the in the Group stage, 4 in the Round of 16, 3 in the Quarter Finals, 1 in the Semifinals, and one in the Final, the bitterest for him.
In terms of his record in front of goal, Lionel Messi has produced a total of 11 goals in his 19 FIFA World Cup appearances, six of them through goals scored, and the remaining five in the form of assists given.With him in the team, Argentina has never been eliminated in the Group Stage, and exceptRussia 2018, when France eliminateditin the Round of 16, it has always reached at least theQuarter Finals.
In total, Lio has played a total of 1,625 minutes during his FIFA World Cup appearances. As a curiosity, he has never played all the matches played by Argentina in the editions of the great tournament he has attended, he has started on the substitutes’ bench only two of the 19 matches he has played, and he has onlybeen booked once(vs Nigeria in Russia 2018) so far.
Lionel Messi made his World Cup debut in Germany 2006. (Clive Mason / Getty Images)
The records Lio Messi could break in Qatar 2022
The best is always expected from Lionel Messi, who is not only one of the best players of the centurybut of the history of this sport itself. Then, some records couldbe broken by the star from Rosario. However, several of them would require him to have a performance of a similar level to the one he had in Brazil 2014, where he led Argentina to the Final.
The Argentinean with the most FIFA World Cups played
This is the record Messi is most likely to set. If no injury or punishment prevents him from playing even one minute of Qatar 2022, he will surpass Diego Armando Maradona and Javier Mascherano with whom he is currently tied with four World Cups played.
Diego Armando Maradona lifting the FIFA World Cup Trophy. (Archivo El Grafico/Getty Images)
Youngest player to attendand play five FIFA World Cups
There is a difference between just attending and actually playing 5 editions of the FIFA World Cup. Gianluigi Buffon attended 5 World Cups but only played in 4, unlike Antonio Carbajal, Lothar Matthäus, and Rafael Marquez who attended and played in 5. If he participates in Qatar 2022 with Argentina, Messi will be the youngest player to attend and play in 5 FIFA World Cups (35 years and 5 months).
Gianluigi Buffon, Italy National Team. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
The Argentineanplayer with the most appearances in FIFA World Cups
Lionel Messi has 19 matches played in the World Cups, only two matches less than the late Diego Maradona, the leader in that category for his country. If he only plays in the Group Stage of Qatar 2022, Lio would have also this record in his pocket.
Diego Armando Maradona, Argentina National Team. (Jérôme Prevost/TempSport/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
The Argentinean player with the most goals scored in the World Cups
This record belongs to a monster goal-scorer,Gabriel Omar Batistuta, who scored 10 goalsin only 3 FIFA World Cups played and 12 appearances. Lionel Messi has 6 goals so far: he would have to equal his scoring streak of Brazil 2014, where he scored 4 times, to match Batigol.
Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina National Team. (Stu Forster /Allsport)
The player with the most appearances in FIFA World Cups
The level of difficulty rises: the leader in this category is Lothar Matthaüs with 25 games played. Argentina would have to reach the Semifinals of Qatar 2022, with Messi playing in every game, to tie the record. If the Albiceleste slips intothe Final, Lionel could become the new leader in games played in World Cups.
Lothar Matthaüs, Germany National Team. (Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)
World Cups’ top scorer
The highest difficulty of all but in soccer, anything can happen: if Lionel Messi scores 10 goals in the best performance of his history in World Cups duringQatar 2022, he could join German Miroslav Klose as the tournament’s top scorer with 16 goals.
Miroslav Klose, Germany National Team. (Clive Rose/Getty Images)
