Messi could break 3 records in Argentina’s match against Austria

Argentina have played one match at the World Cup so far, against Algeria, with Lionel Messi stealing the spotlight through a stunning hat-trick and rewriting multiple records.

With Argentina’s second match against Austria just a few hours away, kicking off at 11:00 PM Dhaka time, Lionel Messi could break three major records.

The first is the record for the most goals in World Cup history. After scoring three in the opening match of this World Cup, Messi’s tally now stands at 16 goals.

He currently shares the record with Germany’s Miroslav Klose. A goal against Austria would take him to 17 and make him the outright leader on the all-time list.

Messi is also on the verge of breaking another record held by Klose. The win over Algeria was the Argentine star’s 16th victory at the World Cup, equalling Klose’s total number of World Cup wins for Germany. Another victory in this tournament would make Messi the player with the most wins in World Cup history.

The third record concerns goals scored from outside the box. The first of Messi’s three goals against Algeria came from a long-range strike outside the penalty area. He now has five World Cup goals from outside the box in total.

Until now, that record belonged solely to Brazil’s Rivellino, but Messi has now matched it after scoring against Algeria. Another long-range goal would put him alone at the top of the list. Representing Brazil in the 1970 and 1974 World Cups, Rivellino scored five goals from outside the penalty area.

Messi previously scored from outside the box against Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and also against Mexico at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as well as against Algeria in this edition.