Lionel Messi has scored 8 goals at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, leading the tournament’s scoring charts despite the minor inconvenience of missing two penalties along the way.
The Argentina national team fan token ($ARG), which runs on the Chiliz blockchain, has surged as much as 12.4% following Messi’s standout performances at the tournament.
Messi’s paradoxical penalty record
He missed a penalty against Austria earlier in the competition, then had another saved by Egypt’s goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir in early July. That makes him the first player in World Cup history to lead the scoring charts while missing two penalties in the same tournament. Across his entire World Cup career, Messi has now taken 8 penalties and missed 4, giving him the dubious distinction of holding the record for most missed penalties in tournament history.
Messi has collected a tournament-high four man-of-the-match awards during the 2026 World Cup.
