Lionel Messi’s World Cup finals record entering Sunday: two finals played, one won, one lost, three goals scored. He lost the 2014 final 1-0 to Germany on Mario Götze’s extra-time winner — and won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player anyway — then completed his career’s great unfinished business in 2022, scoring twice in the epic 3-3 final against France and converting in the shootout Argentina won 4-2. Sunday against Spain is final number three.
That third appearance is itself history: Messi joins Brazil’s Cafu (1994, 1998, 2002) as the only men to play in three World Cup finals, and at 39 he is among the oldest players ever to start one. He’s also the only player with two World Cup Golden Balls — won in a defeat and a victory eight years apart — and a win Sunday would make Argentina the first back-to-back champion since Brazil in 1962, with Messi lifting the trophy in what is widely expected to be his World Cup farewell.
The Bottom Line
One heartbreak, one crowning, and Sunday’s decider — against the only opponent this summer that hasn’t cracked. His duel with Spain’s teenager is framed in Messi vs. Yamal, and the other record he’s defending in the all-time scoring race.