Lionel Messi set yet another World Cup record against Jordan on Saturday.
Messi scored on a free kick in the 80th minute for his 19th career goal in the tournament. And as he added to his World Cup-record total, he also became the first player to score in seven straight World Cup games as Argentina won 3-1.
Messi didn’t start Saturday night as Argentina had wrapped up Group J thanks to his five goals across the team’s first two games. He had the first hat trick of his World Cup career against Algeria as he tied Miroslav Klose’s then-record of 16 World Cup goals. Against Austria, Messi added two more.
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With the game against Jordan coming three days after his 39th birthday, Messi got a break as manager Lionel Scaloni kept him on the bench until he came on in the 60th minute.
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Before Saturday night, Messi was one of three players to score in six straight World Cup games along with Just Fontaine and Jairzinho. Fontaine scored 13 goals in that span during the 1958 World Cup. That was the only World Cup he played in.
Jairzinho scored seven goals in six games at the 1970 World Cup for Brazil before going scoreless against Yugoslavia in the 1974 World Cup to end the streak.
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You have to go back to Argentina’s 2-0 win over Poland in the final game of the 2022 World Cup group stage to find the last time he failed to score a goal in a World Cup game. That was the only game he didn’t score in during Argentina’s run to the title and it easily could have included a goal. Messi missed a penalty kick in the win.
Overall, Messi has scored 13 goals over his past 10 World Cup games and eight over his last four. He scored on a penalty kick and in extra time of Argentina’s win in the World Cup final over France.
