World Cup 2026: Lionel Messi sets more records for defending champion Argentina

Even in failure, Messi breaks records.

He will get the headlines for his prowess in front of goal, but there have also been some unwanted records.

Argentina won a penalty kick after obstructing Lautaro Martinez, but Messi shot the penalty wide of the goal.

Messi said: “There was a moment when I felt very angry about the penalty kick, because I missed it and executed it very poorly.” “Fortunately we were able to turn the situation around, take the lead and get the three points.”

He became the first player to miss a penalty kick in the 2026 World Cup, and he executed (seven) and missed (three) the largest number of penalty kicks in the history of the tournament, excluding penalty kicks.

He also failed to score six of Argentina’s 31 penalty kicks.

Compensating with his brace, this was the first official match in which Messi had scored for Argentina after also missing a penalty kick.

Murphy added: “Messi is a human being in the end. He made the strange mistake.”

It may have been written in the stars that his record-breaking goal was scored in true Messi style.

“Maybe he missed it on purpose,” Murphy joked. “Maybe the goal of breaking the record was to achieve a better goal.”

South American football expert Tim Vickery added: “Clearly the football gods didn’t want him to break the record with a penalty kick, they wanted him to break the record with a goal from open play.

“Argentina has built the team around him and I don’t want the carnival to end.”

And while he holds a lot of records, there are many more to come.

Next on the list could be the one with the most assists at a World Cup final, with Messi currently level with Maradona on eight.

Jordan in the final group match (Sunday, 03:00 GMT) is Messi’s next chance to make more football history.