Lionel Messi creates a new chapter in World Cup history with a record-breaking goal
Lionel Messi created a new World Cup history by beating Argentina against Cape Verde.
The soccer icon beat goalkeeper Vozinha from close range just before the half hour mark in the last 32 match in Miami.
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And in doing so, he wrote his name in the history books once again, continuing to break new boundaries in the world.
Messi’s strike made him score 20 goals in the World Cup in his life.
He is the only player who has reached 20 goals in the competition, which is his sixth time playing in this competition.
The 39-year-old is still the top scorer in the World Cup, but he extended his lead against Cape Verde.
In addition, many records fell to Messi.
He was the first player to score goals in eight consecutive matches in this competition, and he was also the first player to score goals in all rounds of the World Cup.
And Messi now has the most goals in the knockout rounds in the competition’s history too, with 12.
The Argentina legend moved past Kylian Mbappe and Pele, who both have 11, with his first-half goal on Friday.
Meanwhile, he has become the first player in 64 years to score in five consecutive World Cup qualifiers.
Messi is currently the top scorer in this summer’s competition, overtaking Mbappe for seventh in four games.
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He scored a hat-trick against Algeria, two against Austria and one against Jordan, before adding another against Cape Verde.
With seven goals at the 2026 World Cup, he has set another new record – as if his haul wasn’t enough.
Messi remains the only player to have scored seven or more goals in two different competitions.
The Inter Miami star also scored seven goals when Argentina won the World Cup in Qatar four years ago.
Pearce’s praise
England legend and talkSPORT commentator Stuart Pearce watched in awe as Messi made history.
And Pearce compared this legend to Pele after his goal, saying: “He has the same ability that Pelé, my first memory of the player, had. The ability to do the simple things easily.”
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The former Three Lions defender then added to the goal: “Yes, his movement is very clever, you know.
“I think it was Martinez who played the ball deep…it was a good ball, but Messi’s move – he dropped his shoulder and swung behind.
“Any defender worth his salt should learn that, especially when you know that Messi gets in behind, but when the level comes he just takes it down with his left foot and braces himself.
“He didn’t get caught. He’s alert. He took that extra step to wait for the ball to bounce and lift it into the roof of the net.”
“For him, that’s what he does every day. It’s like waking up and eating cornflakes from Messi, but other players were snatching them, controlling them in the wrong way, or being happy and not going around the back without going offside.”
Argentina would go on to get a shock equalizer against Cape Verde after Messi’s goal, as Deroy Duarte found the back of the net.
That was the minnows’ first goal in the World Cup playoffs and it took the last 16 game to extra time.
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