Lionel Messi Becomes First Player In FIFA World Cup After 72 Years To...

Last Updated:June 23, 2026, 02:11 IST

The brace against Austria helped Messi become only the third player in FIFA World Cup history to score multiple goals in three consecutive matches.

Lionel Messi scored twice for Argentina in their second match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Monday (June 22) to help his side secure a 2-0 win over Austria. The 38-year-old opened the scoring in the 39th minute and added his second goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time. The brace at AT&T Stadium in Arlington helped Messi become only the third player in FIFA World Cup history to score multiple goals in three consecutive matches.

Before netting twice against Austria, Messi had scored a hat-trick against Algeria in Argentina’s opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and a brace in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final against France in Lusail on December 18, 2022.

Argentina’s Guillermo Stábile was the first player to score multiple goals in three consecutive FIFA World Cup matches. He achieved the feat in the inaugural edition of the tournament, held in Uruguay in 1930. Stábile scored a hat-trick in Argentina’s Group 1 match against Mexico at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo and then struck braces in each of the next two matches against Chile and the United States at the same venue.

His feat was matched by Hungary striker Sándor Kocsis at the 1954 FIFA World Cup. Kocsis scored a hat-trick in Hungary’s opening group-stage match against South Korea in Zurich and then found the net four times in the second group-stage match against West Germany in Basel.

He followed that up with a brace in the quarter-final against Brazil and another brace in the semi-final against Uruguay in Lausanne.

Players to score multiple goals in 3 or more FIFA World Cup matches

Kocsis, who finished the 1954 FIFA World Cup with 11 goals, remains the first and only player to score multiple goals in four consecutive FIFA World Cup matches.

Since Kocsis achieved the feat in 1954, no player had managed to score multiple goals in three successive FIFA World Cup matches until Messi ended the 72-year wait on June 22, 2026.

Messi now has five goals to his name in the ongoing edition of the FIFA World Cup, the most by any player in the tournament. His five goals in Argentina’s opening two matches make him only the fourth player in FIFA World Cup history to score at least five goals in his first two matches of a World Cup edition, after Sándor Kocsis of Hungary (seven in 1954), Just Fontaine of France (six in 1958) and Harry Kane of England (five in 2018).

About the Author

Harshit BishtSenior Sub-editor

Harshit Bisht is a sports journalist with CNN-News18 since July 1, 2024, and covers cricket with a sharp eye for records, trends, and match analysis. Based in Noida, he has reported extensively on the...Read More

News sports football Lionel Messi Becomes First Player In FIFA World Cup After 72 Years To...

Read More