♾️ Infinite Leo! The incredible records Messi can break in the final 🤯

♾️ Infinite Leo! The incredible records Messi can break in the final 🤯 If this really is Lionel Messi 's last World Cup, the Pulga has chosen the best possible way to say goodbye to football’s biggest stage. Throughout his career, he has made us get used to the impossible. And yet, having just turned 39, the Albiceleste ’s number 10 continues to amaze. Messi is in fact having an absurd World Cup, with records continuing to fall game after game as if, for legends, time never passes. And now on Sunday night, against Spain, the number 10 will have the chance to lift the World Cup for the second time in a row .  But that’s not all. Because in the final, Messi could also break a series of records that would make a career already etched into football history even more legendary. 👴 The oldest outfield player ever in a World Cup final By taking the field on Sunday night against Spain, just 25 days after his 39th birthday, Messi will become the oldest outfield player ever to play in a World Cup final. The overall record still belongs to Dino Zoff , who played in the 1982 final against West Germany at 40 years and 133 days old. However, since he was a goalkeeper, Messi’s record would apply only to outfield players. And that’s not all: if Pulga scores, he would also become the oldest goalscorer ever to do so in a World Cup final . That record belongs to Sweden’s Nils Liedholm since 1958, when he was 35 years and 264 days old. 🥅 One step away from the record for most World Cup finals played Most of the Albiceleste players who will face Spain on Sunday were already on the pitch in the 2022 World Cup final against France. But while many of his teammates are set to play their second consecutive World Cup final, Messi is the only player in the national team who also played in the 2014 final . On that occasion, Argentina lost to Germany. Whatever the outcome of Sunday’s match, Messi is set to equal Cafu’s record, becoming only the second player in history to play in three World Cup finals. ⚽️ Most goals and assists in a single edition With eight goals and four assists to his name, the Argentine superstar is just one goal contribution away from the record for most attacking contributions in a single World Cup since these stats have been recorded, starting in 1966. In 1970, Gerd Müller combined for 13 goals and assists for West Germany. Messi therefore needs just one more goal or assist to equal that record or even surpass it. And not only that. If he scores against Spain, Messi would become the sixth player in history to score in two different World Cup finals . He would share the record with Vavá, Pelé, Paul Breitner, Zidane, and Mbappé. 🤩 Most goals scored in World Cup finals! And free kicks...👀 Messi scored a brace in the last World Cup final, the one in 2022. If he does it again against Spain, he would equal Mbappé’s record of four total goals in World Cup finals. The French forward reached that mark thanks to the hat-trick he scored in the last final, despite France’s defeat.  But it doesn’t end there. The Albiceleste captain currently shares the record for goals scored from direct free kicks at the World Cup with six other players, thanks to the goal he scored against Jordan in the group stage.  If he can produce that free-kick magic once again and score in the final, he would become the sole holder of that record. 2️⃣ The oldest player to win two consecutive World Cups Argentina is aiming to make history by becoming only the third national team ever to win back-to-back World Cups , after Italy in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil in 1958 and 1962. If they succeed, Messi would become the oldest player ever to retain the world title. The current record belongs to Brazilian Nilton Santos , who was 37 in 1962 when he won his second consecutive World Cup with Brazil. ♾️ The World Cup winner with the most goals scored It is highly unlikely that Messi will be able to surpass Just Fontaine ’s record of 13 goals in a single World Cup edition. The Argentine would need to score five more goals in the final alone just to equal that mark. There is, however, another curious record that could join his collection. If Argentina win, Messi would become the player with the most goals scored for a World Cup-winning team . The current record belongs to Ronaldo , who scored eight goals during Brazil’s run to the 2002 world title. Messi is already on eight goals in the 2026 edition: to take the record, he would therefore need just two things, a goal in the final and an Argentina victory. 🥇 First player to win two World Cups as captain Argentina’s defeat in the 2014 World Cup final preserved Pelé ’s record, as he remains to this day the only player in history to have won three World Cups. Now, however, Messi has one last chance to move even closer to the Brazilian legend. Numerous footballers have won two World Cup titles, especially the stars of Italy’s 1934 and 1938 teams and Brazil’s 1958 and 1962 sides. Messi, however, could become the first to do it as captain of his national team on both occasions. Giuseppe Meazza, Bellini, Mauro, Cafu, and Daniel Passarella all lifted the World Cup twice, but only once as captains. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.