Messi leaves World Cup as the most capped player in history

One more for the record books

Lionel Messi's final-ever World Cup appearance really was one for the ages. Not only did the superstar finally get to hold the World Cup trophy, but he also set a few records in the process.

Not any given Sunday

The fairytale ending for Messi resulted in unprecedented five-man-of-the-match awards throughout the tournament. It also saw him bow out as the most-capped World Cup player of all time.

Tackling new territory

To make this possible, Messi brought his beloved Argentina to the final match of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, a moment that has eluded him throughout his long and illustrious career.

A huge hurdle to overcome

Before Qatar 2022, Messi had never played past the quarter-finals at any World Cup to date.

Ending on a high note

With Messi's appearance in the semifinals against Croatia, he tied the record with Germany's Lothar Matttäus and surpassed it in the final against France.

The competition

Messi will now almost certainly go down in history as not only a great club man, but also a World Cup legend. It will be a long time before anybody takes this record off the man they call 'La Pulga'. Let's see how he compares to his peers.

Lionel Messi

Matches: 26

Team: Argentina

Tournaments: 5 (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)

Goals: 13

Position: Fwd

World Cup Wins: 1

Lothar Matthäus

Matches: 25

Team: West Germany/Germany

Tournaments: 5 (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998)

Goals: 6

Position: Mid/Def

World Cup Wins: 1 (1990)

Miroslav Klose

Matches: 24

Team: Germany

Tournaments: 4 (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)

Goals: 16

Position: Fwd

World Cup Wins: 1 (2014)

Paolo Maldini

Matches 23

Team: Italy

Tournaments: 4 (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)

Goals: 0

Position: Def

World Cup Wins: 0

Honorable mentions

Appearing in over 20 World Cup games is an incredible achievement in itself, and something many greats of the game never get to do so we thought we’d add some honourable mentions to round out the list.

Diego Maradona

Matches: 21

Team: Argentina

Tournaments: 4 (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994)

Goals: 8

Position: Mid

World Cup Wins: 1 (1986)

Ronaldo

Matches: 20

Team: Brazil

Tournaments: 3 (1998, 2002, 2006)

Goals: 15