WORLD CUP 2022
Messi matches Lloyd’s record after Argentina lift 2022 World Cup
The Argentine superstar added a brace of goals to his World Cup tally in the final against France, achieving something that only the American had before.
Lionel Messi has made history in Qatar. The Argentine star has been the leader of a nation that once again rules the footballing world. Among his many records, Messi broke another after scoring two goals in the final against France: netting in all the knockout rounds of a World Cup final competition. It is a record that, until Sunday, only one player had achieved, the USWNT star Carli Lloyd.
Magic Messi reaches Lloyd milestone
The American was, without a doubt, the great star of the United States at the 2015 World Cup in Canada. With six goals, the same as the German Sasic, she was awarded the Ballon d’Or and the Silver Boot (the German having played more minutes), and she was also the player of the match four times. The forward, now retired from the game, was key for her team. Curiously, she was unable to score in any of the three group stage games, but in the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final she managed to score, something that had never happened before. Until Messi’s final World Cup display.
Lloyd scored her first World Cup goal in the round of 16 against Colombia to cap off a match started by Alex Morgan. Her goal, from a penalty, secured the final 2-0 scoreline and progression to the quarterfinals where the team crossed paths with China. Lloyd scored the only goal of the game to give the United States a ticket to the semifinal.
Germany, one of the favourites, was the rival standing in the way of the final. And again Lloyd was decisive. The American scored the penalty to make it 1-0 in minute 69. Then, O’Hara made it 2-0 on minute 84.
In the final against Japan, Lloyd completed her scoring run, this time with a hat-trick, something that had only been done in the men’s World Cup final once before, England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966 (thanks to goal-line technology not having been invented). She scored in the 3rd minute, then in the 5th minute and, after Holiday’s third in the 14th minute, Lloyd added completed her haul in the 16th minute. Heath ended the rout on minute 54 leaving the final score 5-2. As we now know, while Messi was doing his thing, Kylian Mbappé was doing his, adding his name to the hat-trick finalists, although unlike Lloyd and Hurst for him it was in vain.
Messi is the only man who has achieved this feat he also scored in the group stage. In fact, he only failed to score in one match, the group game against Poland.