Spearheaded by Lionel Messi, Argentina was one of the finalists of the Qatar World Cup. Leading up to the tournament, Argentina set a record for the most games unbeaten, going unbeaten for 35 games since July 3rd, 2019. Their only loss in recent times was against Saudi Arabia in the opening game of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Despite the loss, they managed to reach the final of the tournament, thanks to Messi.
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Messi will go down as one of the best soccer players of all time. During his time with Barcelona, PSG, and the Argentine national team, Lionel has created a lot of records in his career and has won every trophy possible.
The 35-year-old rounded out his trophy cabinet as he finally won the World Cup trophy in 2022. His performances for Argentina in his 5 appearances have been spectacular. So how many goals does Lionel Messi have in the World Cup? Let’s find out.
Lionel Messi’s World Cup appearances: How many games did he play?
Messi was selected in Argentina’s World Cup squad for Qatar, for a record fifth time.
Official: Leo Messi has been included in Argentina’s squad for the Word Cup. pic.twitter.com/AshsImBreT
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) November 11, 2022
He played in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022. Messi has played a record 26 games in the World Cup. He has scored 13 goals, providing 6 assists on the way. Although he played well in 2014, his performance in the 2022 edition of the tournament was his best in terms of stats. He scored 2 goals in the final against France to give his country only the third World Cup title in Argentina’s history.
Even at the age of 35, Messi was unstoppable throughout the tournament and led his country to the final. In the process, he became the highest goal scorer for his country. He crossed Gabriel Batistuta, who had 10 goals in the competition.
Who has won more world cups, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?
Messi did reach the finals in 2014 and 2022. Lionel lost 2014’s WC final to Germany 1-0. But, Leo Messi once again led his country to the final in 2022. But this time, they did not go home empty-handed, as Argentina beat France in the penalties.
Ronaldo, like Messi, has played every World Cup since 2006 and was a part of Portugal’s squad for 2022. But he played a much-reduced role for the team. Having played 22 games, Ronaldo has scored 8 goals, providing 1 assist on the way.
While Portugal’s best finish in the World Cup was third place back in 1966. This was when England last won the World Cup, and Portugal has since failed to perform very well. With Ronaldo, their best finish was in 2006, finishing fourth.
Cristiano Ronaldo was benched for the majority of the games for Portugal for the 2022 World Cup. But, the move did not pan out well for Portugal, as they crashed out of the tournament after losing to Morocco in the quarterfinals, 1-0.
In their last respective World Cups, Messi outshined Ronaldo in a major way and increased the gap in goals between him and Ronaldo. On top of that, Messi also took home the cup. So it is beyond debate that Lionel Messi has had much better performances in the World Cup than his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
