Lionel Messi made history in FIFA World Cup 2022 final© AFP
One of the greats of all time, Lionel Messi shattered Germany icon Lothar Matthaus’ all-time record as he entered his 26th FIFA World Cup match, playing for Argentina in the final against France on Sunday. Messi stood level with Matthaus with 25 appearances in the FIFA World Cup history after the semi-final win over Croatia, but went a step ahead as he stepped on the pitch against France. Matthaus’ record has been unchallenged since 1998 but it was finally broken by the Argentina maestro.
Messi made his FIFA World Cup bow in the 2006 edition of the tournament, making 3 appearances for Argentina, scoring 1 goal. In 2010, he made 5 appearances for the national team, but could not score a single goal in this campaign. In 2014, Messi was central to Argentina’s road to the final, making 7 appearances in which he scored 4 times.
In the 2018 campaign, Messi could only find the back of the net once and has already netted 5 times in the 2022 campaign. Ahead of the final against France, his tally stood at a total of 11 goals.
Messi, playing in his fifth and final World Cup, is hoping to lead Argentina to a first title since the Diego Maradona-inspired victory in Mexico City in 1986.
In his way stand the prolific Kylian Mbappe and a France team aiming to become the first to win back-to-back World Cups since Pele’s Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
Messi, 35, has collected seven Ballon d’Or awards for the best player in the world, but his last trip to the World Cup final ended in the bitter disappointment of defeat to Germany in 2014.
With AFP inputs
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