Messi: The Statistical King of World Cup History

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi continues to shatter records across all six FIFA World Cup editions he has participated in.

Consequently, there are no significant World Cup records left for the reigning world champion to break statistically. The 38-year-old Messi now shares the record for most goals with Miroslav Klose, both having netted 16. They are followed by Ronaldo Nazário (15), Gerd Müller (14), and Kylian Mbappé (14). A similar situation applies to assists since the 1966 World Cup, from which official statistics have been kept. The forward shares the top achievement with his legendary predecessor, Diego Armando Maradona. Both have 8 assists, followed by Pierre Littbarski and Grzegorz Lato, who each have 7.

Furthermore, Messi now boasts a total of 24 goal contributions (16 goals and 8 assists), surpassing Pelé to become the sole leader in this category. Previously, he shared the top spot with the great Brazilian, who had a combined total of 21 goals and assists. The Argentine is also the player with the most World Cup matches played – 27, with Lothar Matthäus (25) and Klose (24) completing the top three. Moreover, the captain of "La Albiceleste" is the only player to have won the tournament's Golden Ball award in two different editions – in 2014 and 2022.