Atlanta, July 16 : Lionel Messi has once again rewritten football history. The Argentina captain recorded two assists in the 2-1 semifinal victory over England, taking his total to 12 goal contributions at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He has surpassed Kylian Mbappe and now trails only Just Fontaine’s legendary record of 13, set way back in 1958. No player in the last 68 years had touched this mark in a single World Cup until Messi did it on Wednesday night.
The semifinal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was a night of high drama. England found the breakthrough in the 55th minute when Anthony Gordon finished a well-worked move to give the Three Lions a 1-0 lead. For long stretches, it looked like England would end their long wait for another World Cup final.
But Argentina refused to give up. With England leading late in the match, Argentina played a short corner that found Messi. The forward laid the ball back to Enzo Fernandez, who scored with a long-range strike to level the game in the 85th minute.
Then came the moment of the tournament. The Argentina captain created space on the right side before producing a perfectly weighted cross for Lautaro Martinez, who headed home in stoppage time to complete the comeback. Argentina had turned the match around in the space of a few minutes, and the defending champions were through to a second consecutive World Cup final.
Messi’s numbers at this World Cup are simply extraordinary for a 39-year-old. He scored three goals against Algeria, two against Austria, one against Jordan in the group stage, one against Cape Verde in the Round of 32, and one against Egypt in the Round of 16. That is eight goals in total, alongside four assists.
The two assists against England also placed him in legendary company. Messi now owns four assists in FIFA World Cup knockout-stage matches, tying Pele and Antoine Griezmann for the most by any player over the past 60 years.
There is more. The record has direct consequences for the Golden Boot race. Messi and Mbappe each have eight goals in this tournament, but Messi’s pair of semifinal assists moved him into the lead for the Golden Boot, since assists are the first tiebreaker. Mbappe, whose France side lost 2-0 to Spain in the other semifinal, can still add goals in the third-place match against England.
Messi remains the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history with 21 goals, and this tournament has seen him break record after record. He became the first man to play in six World Cups, the oldest hat-trick scorer, the player with the most assists in tournament history, and the owner of a scoring streak of nine consecutive World Cup matches stretching back to Qatar 2022.
Now only one match remains. Argentina will face Spain in the final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey. Argentina is trying to win back-to-back titles, something that has not happened since Brazil won in 1958 and 1962, the era of Pele. Sixty-four years later, Messi has the chance to match that feat and possibly lift a second World Cup trophy in what could be his final World Cup match.
Whatever happens on Sunday, the Atlanta semifinal will be remembered as another night when the greatest player of his generation decided a match not with a goal, but with vision, patience, and two perfect final balls.
