Lionel Messi won the first ever World Cup trophy of his illustrious career as Argentina outplayed defending champions France in a thrilling final on Sunday night. The star striker has been at his best throughout the tournament, scoring eight goals, setting up four more and thrilling his team's legion of fans, who have poured into Qatar in numbers.
As Argentina lifted their third World Cup, here are some incredible records that Messi set on Sunday.
Most wins by a player in World Cup: After the final clash with Argentina, Messi has won 17 matches in FIFA World Cup tournaments. He has joined German legend Miroslav Klose to hold the record of maximum wins in World Cup matches.
Most appearances by a player in World Cup: Messi played his 26th World Cup match on Sunday and became the player with most world cup appearances surpassing Germany's Lothar Matthaus.
Most minutes played in World Cup: Messi surpassed Italian legend Paolo Maldini to play the most minutes in World Cup history. Before the final match, Messi was 23 minutes short of Maldini who had played 2,217 minutes.
Player who scored in each knock-out stage: Messi is now the first player in the history of the World Cup to score in the group stages, Round of 16, quarter finals, semi finals and final.
Highest scoring Argentine in World Cup history: Messi scored his 14th goal against France as he became the highest scoring Argentina player in the World Cup history.
On Sunday, Messi scored two goals and then another in a shootout as Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties Sunday to claim a third World Cup title despite Kylian MbappeĀ scoring the first hat trick in a final in 56 years.
Now there's no debate. Messi is definitively in the pantheon of soccer's greatest ever players, alongside Pel a record three-time World Cup champion from Brazil and Diego Maradona, the late Argentina great with whom Messi was so often compared.
