From retirement to records - another immortal Messi moment

ByMichael Emons

BBC Sport journalist

In 2016, Lionel Messi retired from international football.

In the aftermath of a defeat by Chile in the Copa America final, in which Messi missed a penalty in the shootout as Argentina lost a fourth major final in nine years, he could not take any more pain.

"For me, the national team is over," he said at the time. "I've done all I can. It hurts not to be a champion."

It is hard to imagine that 10 years later, two days before his 39th birthday, that not only would he still be playing for reigning World champions Argentina, but also becoming the tournament's all-time leading scorer.

His decision to reverse that international retirement has led to a glorious era of success for him and his nation.

They have won the past two Copa America tournaments and, in 2022, captain Messi guided them to the World Cup, scoring seven goals - including two in the final - as they won the tournament for the third time, but the first since 1986.

On Monday, 40 years to the day since Diego Maradona scored twice in a 2-1 quarter-final win over England, Messi was again rewriting football's record books with both goals in a 2-0 victory against Austria.

It was "another immortal Messi moment" according to BBC commentator Steve Bower.

"I enjoy playing and having a good time on the pitch," said Messi. "We enjoy seeing the people like this too, being able to give them this kind of joy."

An eighth-minute penalty miss was not a great start, but that was forgotten about 30 minutes later with a low strike for his 17th World Cup goal, to move him clear of Germany's Miroslav Klose as the outright top scorer in tournament history.

The 18th was not far away either, with him scoring in second-half injury time, squeezing the ball past two Austria defenders from a tight angle.

"We don't have time to create statues for Lionel Messi or deep analysis for him in newspapers. We cannot keep pace," said Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague on BBC Radio 5 Live.

That is now 18 goals in 28 World Cup games. You would be foolish to bet against him scoring more, especially with Jordan to come and with Argentina already guaranteed a last-32 place.

Messi is appearing at his sixth World Cup and has scored 13 tournament goals since reversing that decision to retire from international football.

Remarkably, 12 of his 18 goals on football's greatest stage have come since he turned 35. Fourteen of those 18 have been struck with his left foot, and four have come from outside the box.

"He is enjoying it and this is the best thing," added Balague. "I have seen him play World Cups where he couldn't last 90 minutes. Here at the end, he was running like anyone else, now he knows his body so well.

"Messi doesn't need to run. He doesn't even need explosive pace to beat defenders, he just does it with intelligence. I think we're going to see him in four years' time."

The statistics just keep on getting more impressive.

He has scored all five of Argentina's goals at this World Cup, and is two clear at the list of top goalscorers.

Against Austria, he became only the third player to score in six successive World Cup matches after France's Just Fontaine in 1958 and Brazil's Jairzinho in 1970.

Messi's two goals against Austria meant he scored with both of his opportunities and he has also created the most chances in the tournament's history (76).

In his past six matches at the World Cup, he has been involved in 12 goals, scoring 10 with two assists.

"Are we looking at the greatest player ever? It's possible and definitely worth the debate," asked former Wales defender Ashley Williams on BBC One.

"We might have just witnessed the greatest player that football has ever seen."

Former England midfielder Danny Murphy agreed and said: "Lionel Messi keeps getting in those great areas with the free role he has got.

"His football intelligence is off the charts, he just finds space and the timing is great from the best player I've ever seen."

Former France striker Olivier Giroud, a World Cup winner in 2018, added: "He is not suffering physically, he is managing his healthy lifestyle well - he has to because otherwise you cannot stay playing that long.

"He's unbelievable. He has been blessed that he can just play game after game."

But are Argentina overreliant on their captain?

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former England striker Chris Sutton said: "Lionel Messi magic once again for Argentina. It is not just his goals, but it is his contribution to the team.

"The way he knits things together - he is the little guy for the big moments.

"I suppose the negative side for Lionel Scaloni is he probably wants other players to contribute with goals. They can't just rely on Messi, or can they?"

Even in failure, Messi breaks records.

He will get the headlines for his prowess in front of goal, but there were also some unwanted records.

Argentina were awarded a penalty when Lautaro Martinez was brought down, but Messi fired the spot-kick wide.

"There was a moment where I was very angry about the penalty, because I missed it and I took it very, very badly," said Messi. "Luckily we were able to reverse that situation, take the lead and get the three points."

He became the first player to miss a penalty at the 2026 World Cup and has now both taken (seven) and missed (three) the most penalties in tournament history, excluding shootouts.

He has also failed to score six of 31 penalties for Argentina.

By making amends with his double, this was the first competitive match that Messi has scored in for Argentina after also missing a penalty.

"Messi is human after all, he's allowed the odd mistake," added Murphy.

Perhaps it was written in the stars for his record-breaking goal to be scored in true Messi fashion.

"He might have missed it on purpose," Murphy joked. "Maybe breaking the record was meant for a better goal."

South American football expert Tim Vickery added: "The gods of football obviously didn't want him to break the record with a penalty, they wanted him to break the record with a goal from open play.

"Argentina have built the team around him and I just don't want the carnival to end."

While holding so many records, there are more for him to get.

Next on the list could be the most assists at a World Cup as Messi is currently level with Maradona on eight.

Jordan in the final group match (Sunday, 03:00 BST) is Messi's next chance to make yet more footballing history.