World Cup 2026: Lionel Messi sets more records for holders Argentina

Even if he fails, Messi breaks records.

He will make headlines for his bravery in front of goal, but there were also some unwanted records.

Argentina won a penalty after Lautaro Martinez was brought down, but Messi cleared the penalty.

“There was a moment when I was very angry with the penalty because I missed it and I took the penalty very, very badly,” Messi said. “Luckily we were able to turn it around, take the lead and get the three points.”

He became the first player to miss a penalty in the 2026 World Cup and is now the player with both the most penalties (seven) and the most penalties missed (three) in the history of the tournament, excluding penalties.

He also failed to score six of 31 penalties for Argentina.

This was the first competitive match in which Messi scored for Argentina after missing a penalty.

“Messi is human after all, he allowed the odd mistake,” Murphy added.

Maybe it was written in the stars that the record-breaking goal was scored in true Messi style.

“He might have missed that on purpose,” Murphy joked. “Maybe breaking the record was for a better goal.”

South American football expert Tim Vickery added: “The gods of football obviously didn’t want him to break the record with a penalty, 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.”

Even though he has so many records, there is still so much he can achieve.

Next on the list could be the player with the most assists in World Cups, as Messi is currently level with Maradona with eight points.

Messi has his next chance to make football history in Jordan’s final group match (Sunday, 03:00 UTC).