Has Lionel Messi Ever Won the World Cup?

Get ready soccer fans, Argentina is headed to the 2022 World Cup finale with Lionel Messi at the helm. 

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner not only scored a goal of his own off of a penalty against Croatia but also set up one of the two Julián Álvarez goals en route to the 3–0 victory. Coming into Qatar, Messi hadn’t scored a goal during the knockout stages—until this year. He’s now the oldest man to score five World Cup goals in a single tournament, tied for most goals with French wunderkind Kylian Mbappé in this year’s edition. 

La Pulga is arguably the greatest soccer player of all time as he brought home 35 trophies with Barcelona, last season’s French title with Paris Saint-Germain and the 2021 Copa America title with his home country. 

Luis Suárez, an Uruguayan soccer player, wrote in Spanish on his Instagram story about Messi, “You don’t get tired of proving that you are the best in the world. Everyone stop and applaud everything this young man @leomessi gives to soccer! IMPRESSIVE FRIEND” 

However, one accomplishment has eluded him. Unlike his fellow countryman, Diego Maradona, or Brazil’s Pelé, Messi has never won the World Cup. He has the chance to do so on Sunday against either France or Morocco, who face off on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.  

In 2014, La Albiceleste almost did it—reaching the finals before falling in a 1–0 loss that put the trophy in Germany’s hands. In Messi’s three other World Cups, his team lost in the quarterfinals in his ’06 debut, fell again in the quarterfinals in ’10 and were defeated in the round of 16 by eventual champions France in ’18.

Argentina suffered a shocking loss in its World Cup opener against Saudi Arabia, but it has won every game since. Messi said Tuesday, per The Athletic, “The first match was a hard blow for all of us because we had been unbeaten in 26 matches. It was a really hard blow. We didn’t think we would lose against Saudi Arabia. It was an acid test for this whole squad but we proved how strong we are.

“Then we won the other matches and it was very difficult because every match was a final and this has a mental load—because if we didn’t win then things would be quite complicated for us.

“We have played five finals and have been able to win five finals, and I hope it will be the same in the final. We were confident, but we know what we are capable of as a squad.”