2026 World Cup: Lionel Messi Breaks 56-Year-Old Record After Win vs Jordan
- Argentina legend Lionel Messi has broken a 56-year-old record at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico
- The Barcelona legend scored against Jordan in their third match to increase his goal tally to six
- La Albiceleste have been given an easy fixture in the Round of 32 against debutant Cape Verde
Argentina legend Lionel Messi has set a unique FIFA World Cup record that had stood for 56 years following his goal against Jordan on Sunday, June 28.
The Barcelona icon came off the bench to score his sixth goal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as Argentina defeated Jordan 3-1 at Dallas Stadium.
Source: Getty Images
Giovani Lo Celso opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a superbly struck free-kick before Lautaro Martínez doubled Argentina's advantage from the penalty spot in the 31st minute.
Messi was named among the substitutes after head coach Lionel Scaloni made nine changes to the side that defeated Austria 2-0 earlier in the week.
The Inter Miami forward was introduced just after the hour mark and once again made the difference, curling home a trademark free-kick to seal Argentina's victory, per BBC.
The defending champions finished top of Group J with a perfect nine points, scoring eight goals and conceding just once.
Argentina will now face tournament debutants Cape Verde in the Round of 32 in Miami on Friday, July 3.
Cape Verde have already made history by becoming the smallest nation ever to reach the FIFA World Cup knockout stage in their first appearance at the tournament, per Al Jazeera.
Should Argentina advance, they will meet the winner of Australia versus Egypt in the Round of 16, with a potential quarter-final against Switzerland, Algeria, Colombia or Ghana.
Messi sets new consecutive World Cup scoring record
Lionel Messi began the tournament with a hat-trick in Argentina's opening 3-0 victory over Algeria, equalling Miroslav Klose's all-time World Cup goals record.
Source: Getty Images
He then surpassed the German legend by scoring both goals in Argentina's 2-0 win over Austria to become the tournament's outright leading goalscorer.
Against Jordan, Messi won a free-kick just outside the penalty area before calmly bending a low effort through the defensive wall and into the bottom corner.
The goal was his sixth of the tournament and his 19th in FIFA World Cup history, extending his record.
According to OptaJack, Messi has now scored in seven consecutive FIFA World Cup matches, a feat never previously achieved in the competition.
The previous record of six consecutive World Cup matches was jointly held by France legend Just Fontaine, who achieved the feat during the 1958 tournament, and Brazil icon Jairzinho, who scored in six straight matches on the way to winning the 1970 World Cup.
Kane surpasses Lineker and Ronaldo
Legit.ng earlier reported that England captain Harry Kane has broken records previously held by both Three Lions legend Gary Lineker and Portugal icon Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kane has now overtaken Gary Lineker, who scored 10 goals, to become England's all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup history.
Source: Legit.ng
