Lionel Messi joins Eusébio and is one goal behind Batistuta

In his 23rd game in the World Cup - he joined the Italian Paolo Maldini in third place in the 'ranking' -, Messi reached nine goals, a mythical record that the 'king' of Portuguese scorers achieved in just one edition, and six matches, in 1966.

Messi, who arrived in Qatar with only six World Cup goals (one in 2006, four in 2014 and one in 2018), had already scored in 2022 against Saudi Arabia (1-2) and Mexico (2-0), failing only against Poland (2-0), in which he missed a penalty.

The Argentinian player was just a touch away from the 'top 8', made up of a sextet, which includes his compatriot Gabriel Batistuta, who, with 10 goals, is the South Americans' top scorer in the competition.

Messi trails Batistuta at the World Cups, but not in Argentina, where he leads the way with 94 goals in 169 games.