Messi, Argentina, World Cup final again: Records and highlights

Argentina staged yet another dramatic comeback at the FIFA World Cup 2026, defeating England 2-1 at Atlanta Stadium on Thursday to book their place in the final for the successive time.

Anthony Gordon gave England the lead in the 55th minute before Lionel Messi inspired a remarkable turnaround, providing two assists in the space of seven minutes for Enzo Fernandez (85') and Lautaro Martinez (90+2'). 

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The victory set up a blockbuster final against reigning UEFA European champions Spain where they will be aiming to defend their title.

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The beautiful game, the familiar political echoes

Here are some of the key records and highlights from the match:

# Argentina have reached the FIFA World Cup final for the seventh time, the outright second-most appearances by any nation, behind only Germany (8).

# Argentina have reached back-to-back World Cup finals for only the second time, having previously achieved the feat in 1986-1990.

# After winning their first World Cup semifinal in 1966, England have now been eliminated in each of their last three semifinal appearances (1990, 2018 and 2026).

# The 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain will be the first ever World Cup final contested between the reigning UEFA European champions and the reigning CONMEBOL Copa America champions.

# Lionel Messi assisted both of Argentina's goals against England. He now has eight goals and four assists in the 2026 World Cup. If Kylian Mbappe fails to score or assist in the third-place playoff, Messi will win the Golden Boot for the first time.

# In the 21st century, there have been only two instances of a team scoring first in a World Cup semifinal but failing to reach the final—England vs Croatia (2018) and England vs Argentina (2026).

# Messi now has 33 goal involvements in World Cup history (21 goals and 12 assists), extending his all-time record. The next best is Mbappe with 25 goal involvements (20 goals and five assists).

# Messi has registered a goal contribution in every match at the 2026 World Cup and has now produced at least one goal or assist in 11 successive World Cup matches, another tournament record.

# Anthony Gordon has been directly involved in four goals in his last four World Cup matches.

# Messi won his fifth Player of the Match award of the 2026 World Cup, matching the five he claimed during the 2022 tournament. He has now won a record 16 Player of the Match awards in FIFA World Cup history.

# Lautaro Martinez, who failed to score at the 2022 World Cup, has already contributed three goals and one assist in the ongoing tournament.

# Argentina have scored 19 goals at the 2026 World Cup—the highest tally by any nation in a single World Cup in the 21st century. Argentina's 19-goal haul is also the highest in the nation's World Cup history, surpassing the 18 goals they scored during the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup.

# Among Argentina’s 19 goals, eight goals came between 75^th to 90 plus minutes while four came in the extra time.