Messi Scores His 19th World Cup Goal in Seven Consecutive WC Games: The Records That Cannot Be Stopped

[GameChanger]

Lionel Messi came off the bench in Argentina's 3-1 win over Jordan on Saturday and scored his sixth goal of this World Cup with a low, precisely placed direct free kick in the 80th minute that gave the goalkeeper absolutely no chance. The goal was his 19th in World Cup history, extending his all-time record further. It also made him the first player ever to score in seven consecutive World Cup appearances, a record that encompasses games at this tournament and the 2022 Qatar final, where he scored twice. Argentina go into the knockouts with a perfect nine points from three games, top of Group J, and face Cape Verde in Miami on July 3.

The statistical footnotes from this tournament are becoming extraordinary. Messi now has six goals from outside the penalty area at World Cups, breaking a tie with Rivaldo for the most in the last 60 years. He has become only the fifth player to score six goals in a single World Cup group stage, the first since Oleg Salenko for Russia in 1994. He scored two direct free kicks in the same tournament, only the sixth player to do so in the last six decades. Lautaro Martinez and Giovani Lo Celso both scored their first World Cup goals in this game as Argentina rotated squad depth to keep Messi fresh for the knockouts.

Jordan played with genuine courage. Mousa Tamari scored for them in the 55th minute to make it 2-1 and briefly gave their fans hope. But Argentina are too deep a squad and too well organised under Scaloni for that to last. The Cape Verde round of 32 matchup on July 3 is as close to a certain Argentina win as exists in football. If Messi maintains this form through to the final on July 19, the record books will need significant revisions.

FIFA World Cup 2026 stats: Messi sets another World Cup record; Ronaldo second with 25; Kanewww.espn.com

[Phil]

19 World Cup goals and climbing. Just Fontaine's record of 13 in a single tournament feels unreachable but Messi is on six from three games. If Argentina get to the final he plays seven more games. The maths starts looking less impossible

[Dank15]

Scoring in seven consecutive World Cup appearances means Messi has been scoring at World Cups continuously since the 2018 tournament in Russia. That is an eight-year thread of World Cup goals from the best player who has ever played the game

[Kernel]

The free kick in the 80th minute was the kind of ball that looks easy until you try to place it exactly that low at that pace curling away from the keeper. Jordan's goalkeeper had time to set and still could not get there

[LatentSpace82]

Lautaro and Lo Celso scoring their first World Cup goals on the same night Messi came off the bench and broke another record tells you how deep this Argentina squad is. The starters can handle a round of 32 against Cape Verde without him if needed

[Zach91]

Cape Verde versus Argentina is the most mismatched round of 32 game on paper in this entire bracket. A nation of 500,000 who has never won a World Cup group game versus the defending champions with the greatest player of all time. Football will make it more interesting than that sounds

[Anchor99]

The Scaloni rotation decision to rest Messi for most of the Jordan game is going to look prescient if Argentina go deep. Keeping him at 90 percent instead of 100 percent against Jordan means he arrives at the knockouts fresh and hungry

[Peter]

Argentina winning three from three with a perfect goal difference heading into the knockouts is exactly the form the defending champions needed to show. The 2022 winners started that tournament with a defeat to Saudi Arabia. There is no such wobble in 2026