Messi, bigger than Pelé

Lionel Messi broke several records in Qatar 2022. The Argentine star managed to lift the World Cup for the first time and became the footballer with the most games played and the most victories in the global competition. Also, He is the only one who scored in all phases of a World Cup: groups, eighths, quarters, semifinals and finals.

And there is another brand that the Rosario broke in his magical tournament. Perhaps it is his most important record. Messi became the footballer who participated in the most goals, in the entire history of the World Cup, surpassing none other than Pelé.

Between goals and assists, the Argentine accumulates 21 conquests. There are 13 goals, seven of them in Qatar 2022; and eight assists, three in the tournament that ended with the third star for the albiceleste team.

After a long personal investigation, reviewing the available videos -at least there are all the duels since 1966- and the chronicles of the first years where there was no audiovisual material, we determined that the record was held by Skinwho was directly involved in 20 goals for Brazil.

‘O Rei’ scored 12 goals in the three World Cups in which he participated and also provided eight assists. Then come three stars with 19 goals: the Germans Gerd Muller (14 goals-5 assists) and Miroslav Klose (16-3), plus the Brazilian Ronaldo (15-4).

Most goals and assists in the World Cup

21 Lionel Messi / one participation every 110′
20 Pele / 63′
19 Gerd Muller / 65′
19 Ronaldo / 86′
19 Miroslav Klose / 94′
17 Grzegorz Lato / 106′
16 Just Fontaine / 34′
16 Thomas Müller / 98′
16 Diego Armando Maradona / 121′
16 Uwe Seeler / 124′

Players with the most goals in World Cup history

With his extraordinary performances at Qatar 2022, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe they got among the top historical scorers of the World Cups.

The Argentinian scored seven times and jumped to 13 conquests. The French thing is more impressive and with just 23 years he already has 12 goals. He will probably have several chances to get past the German. Miroslav Klosethe record man.

Mbappé has the same 12 goals in 14 games that the Brazilian Pelé scored, but with a better average per minute. While ‘O Rei’ scored a goal every 105′, the Frenchman lowered that number to 95′.

16 Miroslav Klose / one goal every 112′ – 0 penalty
15 Ronaldo / 108′ – 1
14 Gerd Muller / 88′ – 1
13 Just Fontaine / 42′ – 0
13 Lionel Messi / 178′ – 4
12 Kylian Mbappé / 95′ – 2
12 Pelé / 105′ – 0
11 Sándor Kocsis / 44′ – 0
11 Jurgen Klinsmann / 139′ – 0
10 Helmut Rahn / 90′ – 0

Players with the most assists in World Cup history

In goal passes, nobody adds more than the German Fritz Walter. The German star added 10 goal passes in a total of 11 games and played two World Cups. They were seven to achieve the title of Switzerland 1954 and then contributed with three more in Sweden 1958.

In Qatar 2022, Messi tied for third place with legends Pelé and Diego Maradona, with a total of eight assists.