Lionel Messi, the man who has spent two decades making the impossible look routine, is doing it again. At 39 years old, in what is widely expected to be his final World Cup, Messi sits atop the 2026 tournament’s scoring charts with 8 goals and 4 assists through 7 matches, and he needs just one more assist to tie the all-time single-tournament record.
The numbers behind Messi’s historic run
Messi has surpassed Miroslav Klose to become the men’s all-time leading World Cup goalscorer, pushing his career total to somewhere between 17 and 18 goals across multiple tournaments. Klose held that record for over a decade.
His 4 assists in this tournament represent a new personal best for a single World Cup. Argentina is currently navigating the knockout rounds of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The expanded 48-team format means more games and more opportunities for a player who apparently doesn’t believe in aging.
The $ARG fan token and crypto’s sports play
