Lionel Messi became the first player to score in seven consecutive World Cup matches when he netted for Argentina against Jordan in Dallas on Saturday, moving past Just Fontaine and Jairzinho.
Substitute Messi curled in a free kick from 25 metres in the 80th minute to make the score 3-1.
Messi’s hot streak started in Argentina’s 2-1 victory over Australia at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He also netted against the Netherlands and Croatia, before scoring twice in an epic final with France that ended with him lifting the trophy.
Messi, the leader in this tournament with six goals, was among nine Argentina starters changed from the previous game since Group J was already clinched before the match. He entered in the 60th minute, three days after his 39th birthday, and in the same stadium where he broke the scoring mark last Monday, and scored in the 80th minute.
He continued that scoring run at the 2026 finals having netted a hat-trick against Algeria and another two versus Austria in Argentina's second game, with his strike against Jordan taking his tally of World Cup goals to a record-extending 19.
Fontaine scored in six consecutive matches for France in 1958, and Jairzinho did likewise for Brazil in 1970.
Argentina, which has seven wins and two draws in its last nine World Cup games, plays in the round of 32 on Friday against Cape Verde, the smallest country to earn a spot in the knockout round. That game is in Miami, the home of Messi's Major League Soccer team.