Messi becomes 1st to score in all finals matches at the Cup

With the goal that opened the scoring in the decision against France, Lionel Messi hit yet another mark in the history of the World Cups.

Since the World Cup started to be played with 32 teams and the final phase formed by round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final, never has a player managed to score in the four decisive matches.

The number 10 of Argentina left its mark against Australia (2-1 victory), in the round of 16, against the Netherlands (2-2 draw and classification on penalties), in the quarter-finals, against Croatia, in the semi-final , and before the French, in the decision.

Of those 4 goals, 3 were from the penalty spot — only against Australia did the Argentine score with the ball rolling. The first goal against France was Messi’s sixth in the competition, in his top scorer in the World Cup (he scored 4 in the 2014 World Cup, in Brazil).

In the 2002 World Cup, Ronaldo also scored 4 goals for Brazil between the round of 16 and the decision against Germany. But the Brazilian —who scored the 2 goals in the final— missed the mark in the quarterfinals, in the 2-1 victory over England (goals from Rivaldo and Ronaldinho Gaúcho).

In 1970, Jairzinho scored in every game for Brazil, but at that time the tournament had a smaller number of teams, and there was no Round of 16 stage.

In Qatar, Messi also became the athlete with the most appearances in the history of the Cups, with 26 matches, beating the mark of the German Lothar Matthäus.