20 goals in World Cups. That number already put him above Miroslav Klose, the German who had spent almost 20 years as the all-time top scorer in World Cup history.
Leo Messi, having just turned 39, rewrote that page before the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup.
But the same tournament that crowns him also haunts him. In Dallas he missed against Austria in the group stage, after a foul on Lautaro Martínez reviewed by VAR. And against Egypt, in the round of 16, with Argentina down 1-0, he missed again 🥲.
With that second consecutive miss, Messi reached 4 missed penalties out of 7 taken in World Cups, surpassing the previous unwanted record of Ghanaian Asamoah Gyan.
The same foot that scored 20 goals in four different World Cups is the one that now carries the record for the most misses from 12 yards. Great even in contradiction ⚽🐐