FIFA World Cup: Lionel Messi equals Diego Maradona's 2 records

Argentina’s star player Lionel Messi has equalled legend Diego Maradona’s FIFA World Cup records during the ongoing tournament in Qatar.

On Saturday (November 26), Messi scored his second goal in the FIFA World Cup 2022 and drew level with Maradona.

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Messi inspired Argentina to a 2-0 victory over Mexico in a Group C match at Lusail Stadium in Al Daayen. This was the South American team’s first win in the 32-team competition after losing the opener to Saudi Arabia 2-1.

“The first half was difficult because of the way they defended. We weren’t able to find space and didn’t move the ball the way we wanted to,” Argentina captain Messi said after the match.

“In the second half, we managed to have more possession and found space between the lines. We started to get the ball closer to the (penalty) area and to play our normal game,” he added.

Now, Messi and Maradona have scored an equal number of World Cup goals – eight. Also, Messi equalled Maradona’s World Cup appearances with his 21st match on Saturday.

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Argentina’s leading World Cup goalscorer is Gabriel Batistuta with 10 goals. Messi has a chance to overtake him.

In the final group game on December 30, Argentina faces Poland.

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