Lionel Messi now holds the all-time FIFA World Cup scoring record with 21 goals. Before Scaloni took charge of Argentina in 2018, the prevailing narrative around Messi was that he couldn’t replicate his club brilliance on the international stage when it mattered most.
The Scaloni effect, by the numbers
Messi’s World Cup goal trajectory tells a clear story. He scored once in 2006, four times in 2014, once again in 2018, then exploded for seven goals during Argentina’s triumphant 2022 campaign in Qatar.
The 2026 World Cup has been something else entirely. Messi has netted eight goals in this tournament alone, including a hat-trick that pushed him past Miroslav Klose’s previous record of 16 career World Cup goals. He kept going, eventually reaching 21.
Across all competitions under Scaloni, Messi has recorded 60 goals and 24 assists in 76 appearances. That works out to contributing directly to 74 goals, or roughly one goal contribution per match. At 39 years old.
