This was Lionel Messi‘s World Cup, and he created a legacy of records that are likely to stand for many years. The Argentina striker won the Golden Ball for best player, he was named Player of the Match in five of his country’s seven matches, including the win over France in the final, and no player provided more than his three assists.
Messi’s seven goals took him past Gabriel Batistuta and Diego Maradona to become Argentina‘s all-time leading goal scorer at the World Cup with 13, and he has now played more World Cup games (26) than anyone else, overtaking Germany’s Lothar Matthaus.
It’s all the more impressive that he has achieved this at the age of 35, playing every single moment of Argentina’s campaign — tied for the most minutes among all players at the tournament. The only other player aged 35 or over in the top 50 of appearances is France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
The Paris Saint-Germain striker is joined by goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, 30, and fellow veteran Nicolas Otamendi, 34, in battling through every gruelling minute of Argentina‘s seven matches — including 139 minutes against Netherlands in the quarterfinals and 141 minutes against France.
PSG restart their Ligue 1 campaign against Strasbourg on Dec. 28 before facing Lens on Jan. 1, and it’s fair to say Messi won’t be flying back to the French capital just yet. Likewise for Martinez, whose Aston Villa side are due to take on Liverpool on Monday, and Otamendi, with Benfica taking on Braga on Dec. 30.
