Lionel Messi rescued Argentina from the brink and made World Cup history in an unforgettable night.
The 39-year-old captain missed an early penalty but bounced back to set up Cristian Romero before scoring the equaliser as Argentina fought from 2-0 down to beat Egypt 3-2 in the round of 16. Enzo Fernandez completed the comeback deep into stoppage time. The victory kept Argentina’s World Cup defence alive and saw Messi move past Diego Maradona after setting 11 World Cup records in one match.
Here are the records:
- Messi passed Maradona for the most World Cup assists. His cross for Romero was his ninth, according to Opta, one more than Maradona’s eight.
- Per MisterChip, he has now been involved in 47% of all World Cup goals scored by players aged 38 and above.
- His equaliser was his seventh goal in the knockout stage, matching Pele. Only Mbappe, Leonidas and Ronaldo Nazario have more.
- He became the first player to score in six straight World Cup knockout matches, breaking the previous mark of five shared by Leonidas, Gyorgy Sarosi and Vava.
- At 39, he is now the oldest player to score and provide an assist in a World Cup knockout match, beating Nils Liedholm, who did it at 35 in 1958.
- His missed penalty became his fourth failed spot-kick in regular World Cup matches, the most ever. Asamoah Gyan had two.
- He is also the first player to miss two penalties in the same World Cup tournament after also missing against Austria.
- Opta says he became the first player since Maradona against Belgium in 1986 to score, complete at least five successful dribbles and create five or more chances from open play in a World Cup match.
- His eighth goal of the 2026 tournament is the best return after five matches since Gerd Muller scored 10 in 1970.
- FIFA says he has now scored in nine straight World Cup matches, the longest run in the competition’s history.
- His eight goals at this tournament matched Guillermo Stabile’s Argentina record set in 1930.
After the match, Messi said the win brought huge relief, adding that reaching the next round was the most important thing and describing the comeback as one of Argentina’s toughest moments.
