A decade ago, Lionel Messi said goodbye to the national team. After Argentina’s defeat to Chile in the 2016 Copa America final, the Argentine great announced in despair that he was quitting international football. But it was after he reversed that decision and returned that his, and Argentina’s, golden chapter began.
By scoring twice in Monday’s 2-0 win over Austria, Messi has taken his place on the throne of the World Cup’s all-time top scorer. His World Cup tally now stands at 18, the highest across the men’s and women’s World Cups combined. He has moved past the German legend Miroslav Klose, who scored 16. Brazil’s legendary Marta is second, with 17.
The start of the match in Dallas was, however, a frustrating one for Messi, who missed a penalty in the eighth minute. But in the 38th minute he scored a superb goal to equal Klose’s record, and then, in the fifth minute of added time, scored again to stand alone at the top of history.
This is Messi’s sixth World Cup. More astonishing still, 12 of his 18 goals have come after he passed the age of 35. At this World Cup, all five of Argentina’s goals have come from his feet.
By scoring against Austria, Messi achieved another rare feat: he is only the third footballer to score in six consecutive World Cup matches. Previously, only France’s Just Fontaine (1958) and Brazil’s Jairzinho (1970) had managed it.
In a BBC analysis, the former Wales captain Ashley Williams asked: ‘Are we watching the greatest player in football history?’ The former England midfielder Danny Murphy said: ‘Messi’s football intelligence is on another level. He is probably the best footballer I have seen.’
Curiously, on the night he set the record, Messi also put an unwanted record to his name: he is now the player who has both taken the most penalties (7) and missed the most penalties (3) in World Cup history.
In the end, though, the night belonged to Messi alone. The footballer who once said goodbye to the national team is now the holder of the most goals in World Cup history, and has, along the way, taken Argentina to yet another knockout round.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report