cDefending champions Argentina secured their spot in the Round of 16 by defeating Cape Verde 3-2. Captain Lionel Messi was the central figure of this nail-biting match. On the night Cape Verde was eliminated, the football wizard set a series of incredible world records. Several other records were also established.
20: Messi achieved the unique feat of becoming the first player in football history to score 20 goals in the World Cup. He raised the bar for his own record of most goals scored on the global stage.
12: Messi now has a total of 12 goal contributions (6 goals, 6 assists) in World Cup knockout matches. Surpassing Pelé and Kylian Mbappé, he set the record for the most goal contributions in knockout stages over the last 60 years.
8: Messi became the first player in World Cup history to score in eight consecutive matches.
7+: He became the first player to score 7 or more goals in two different World Cups (2022 and 2026). Mbappé has scored 6 goals in the current World Cup.
7: Messi needs just one more goal to equal Guillermo Stábile’s record for the most goals scored by an Argentine in a single World Cup tournament (8 goals in 1930). He needs two goals to break Ademir’s record for a South American male player (9 goals in 1950).
5: Messi reached the milestone of scoring in five consecutive World Cup knockout matches. He became the third male player to achieve this feat, following Hungary’s György Sárosi (1934–38) and Brazil’s Vavá (1958–62).
10: Lionel Messi has directly contributed to 10 goals (6 goals, 4 assists) in his last six World Cup knockout matches.
14: Messi has scored 14 World Cup goals after turning 35. Cameroon’s Roger Milla holds second place on this list with 5 goals. All other footballers aged 35 or older have scored a combined total of 25 goals in the World Cup. 14: The Albiceleste captain set a record by scoring against 14 of the 22 teams he has faced in the World Cup so far.
3: By scoring at the age of 39 years and 9 days, Messi became the third-oldest goalscorer in World Cup knockout history. He sits behind Cristiano Ronaldo (41 years, 147 days) and Pepe (39 years, 283 days).
1: Lisandro Martínez registered his first international assist by setting up Messi’s opening goal. He became the 10th Argentine to provide an assist to Messi in the World Cup. The pass, delivered from a distance of 42.5 meters, was the longest assist by an Argentine defender in the last 60 years.
1: Lisandro Martínez became the first Argentine defender since 1966 to both score and provide an assist in a single World Cup match.
30 & 13: Playing his 30th World Cup match, Messi extended his record for the most appearances in the tournament’s history; he is the first player in men’s football to reach the 30-match mark. Additionally, this was his 13th knockout-stage match.
1: Deroy Duarte scored his first knockout-stage goal for Cape Verde the day before his 27th birthday. He became the first African player to score against Argentina in a World Cup knockout match.
100: Lionel Scaloni completed his 100th match as Argentina’s head coach. Under his leadership, the team has recorded 73 wins, 18 draws, and 9 losses, while winning four major trophies.
5: Taking the field at the age of 40 years and 30 days, Vozinha became the fifth player aged 40 or older to play in the knockout stage of the current World Cup. Prior to 2026, only two players in history had played in a knockout match at that age.
18: With 8 saves in the match, Vozinha brought his total tally to 18, placing him third on the list of goalkeepers in the current World Cup.
8: Vozinha’s 8 saves marked the highest number of saves by an African goalkeeper since Algeria’s Raïs M’Bolhi in 2014 (notably, 5 of these saves were against shots from Messi). 3: Deene Borges’ own goal in the 111th minute was Argentina’s third-latest goal in World Cup history. It was their latest goal since Angel Di Maria’s strike against Switzerland in 2014 (118th minute).
53: So far, 53 goals have been scored from set-pieces in the 2026 World Cup, the highest number in a single tournament since 1966.
12: This marks Argentina’s 12th World Cup victory in extra time. They now share the record for the most extra-time wins in the tournament’s history with Germany.
