Messi equals Batistuta as Argentina’s top scorer in World Cups

On his way to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Lionel Messi, 35, has been collecting important marks. This Friday (9), when scoring the second goal against the Netherlands, the striker equaled Gabriel Batistuta’s mark as the main Argentine scorer in World Cups, with 10 goals.

When he arrived in Qatar, Messi only scored 6 goals in four World Cups. The first was in 2006; later, it went blank in 2010; in Brazil, in 2014, he had his highest scorer ever, with 4 goals; in 2018, in Russia, he made one more.

At the start of the 2022 Cup, the PSG player was tied with Mario Kempes in the top scorer, behind Diego Maradona and Guillermo Stábile (both with 8 goals) and Batistuta (with 10).

In Qatari lands, the number 10 scored on his debut, in the comeback defeat against Saudi Arabia. In the second round, he scored the goal that opened the way to victory against Mexico, by 2 to 0. The third came in the round of 16, when the team overcame Australia by 2 to 1.

Of the 4 goals scored in this World Cup, two were from the penalty spot. Messi could have been the top scorer if he had not wasted a free kick in the 2-0 win against Poland – saved by goalkeeper Szczesny.

In addition to Batistuta, Messi equals five other athletes with 10 goals: the Peruvian Cubillas, the Polish Lato, the English Lineker and the Germans Thomas Müller and Rahn. The record holder is still the German Miroslav Klose, with 16.

And Messi not only surpassed Maradona in number of goals, but he also has more games played in World Cups with Argentina’s shirt. He already has 24 appearances, leaving Maradona behind with 21.

The Argentinian is just one game behind Germany’s Lothar Matthäus, who holds the record with 25 appearances, but with two games to play, he could surpass him.