35-year-old Lionel Messi won the World Cup as the best player producing one of the greatest campaigns ever.
4 years later, with nothing to prove, 39-year-old Lionel Messi reached the World Cup final again as the best player, with an arguably even better campaign.
Unprecedented.
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi’s 2026 World Cup is now better than his 2022 World Cup 😳
📊 2022 World Cup:
👕 7 games
⚽️ 7 goals
🎯 3 assists
�� 21 chances created
😳 7 big chances created
💨 15 successful dribbles
📊 2026 World Cup:
👕 7 games
⚽️ 8 goals
🎯 4 assists
😮 26 chances created
😳 8 big chances created
💨 24 successful dribbles
39 years old! 🐐
There have been 19 instances of a player recording 0.7 expected assists or higher in a match at the 2026 World Cup. Lionel Messi alone has accounted for four of those matches. Michael Olise is the only other player with two.
one of the greatest assists ever, 2 defenders converging, off his weak foot, perfect placement. lautaros goal had a 0.70 xG, messi created a penalty tier goal in open play
mbappe vs european teams in major international tournaments (excluding sweden and poland farms)
- 15 games
- 1 goal
- 0.06 goals per game
give me freedom, give me fire, give me sweden and poland or I retire 🥶
Messi vs European teams at the World Cup
- 18 games
- 5 non penalty goals
- 0.28 goals per game
Not so good when you don’t have African and Asian teams to statpad against you trash big game scorer huh