After having already scored on his debut, from a penalty, in a bitter defeat against Saudi Arabia (1-2), the 'captain' of the 'albiceleste' scored again, against Mexico, in the 64th minute, adding an assist, for Benfica player Enzo Fernández scored the final 2-0, at 87 minutes.
Messi had equaled Javier Mascherano's 20 appearances in his debut and, when he played this time, he started counting the same 21 matches as Maradona, who made his debut in 1982, was champion in 1986, 'runner-up' in 1990 and excluded from the 1994 edition by doping fault.
The current Paris Saint-Germain player became the best Argentine in the ranking of games played, along with Maradona, who died two years ago on Friday, and also the German Uwe Seeler and the Polish Wladyslaw Zmuda, all in fourth place.