The 35-year-old attacker celebrated his eleventh goal at a World Cup. With his goal in the quarterfinals against the Dutch national team on Friday, he leveled with Gabriel Batistuta, who scored ten goals in twelve World Cup matches. Diego Maradona (21 World Cup matches) and Guillermo Stábile (4 World Cup matches) both scored eight goals for Argentina at the World Cup.
Messi plays his 25th game against Croatia in a global final round and equaled the record of the German Lothar Matthäus. The Argentinian normally comes into action one more time in Qatar. Either he will play the final on Sunday or he will play for third place on Saturday.
Messi scored his fifth goal at this World Cup in Qatar. He now shares the lead in the top scorers’ ranking with Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, who will play his country against Morocco in the semi-finals on Wednesday. The French center striker Olivier Giroud has four goals.