At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Argentina's Lionel Messi splendidly decorated the finale of the last dance.
He rose to the ranks of the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), which means the greatest player of all time, by lifting the World Cup trophy he longed for.
Messi has set numerous records in this competition.
He surpassed several legends, breaking his own records one after another in a so-called dojo-breaking style.
Who is the soccer legend Messi has surpassed this time around?
The face is really gorgeous.
'Legends of Argentina' Maradona and Batistuta
Messi added seven goals at the World Cup in Qatar, bringing his career to 13 at the World Cup.
He became the top scorer in the World Cup finals for Argentine players.
He surpassed Maradona (8 goals) with a goal in the round of 16 against Australia, and surpassed Batistuta (10 goals), the previous top scorer in Argentina, with a goal in the semifinal against Croatia.
Maradona and Batistuta.
The two players are legendary players representing Argentina, a soccer powerhouse.
First of all, Maradona is an Argentine soccer hero who needs no words.
In the World Cup, he scored a total of 8 goals, including 2 goals in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, where he first participated at the age of 22 (including 2 goals in the 2nd match against Hungary in the group stage), and 1986 in Mexico, where he played at his peak. In the World Cup, he scored 5 goals and led Argentina to victory.
Four years later, at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, he didn't score a goal, but contributed to Argentina's runners-up finish.
And in his last World Cup, the 1994 World Cup in the United States, he added one goal with a wonderful left-footed mid-range shot in the first group match against Greece.
He participated in the World Cup 4 times and scored 8 goals, winning 1 championship and 1 runner-up.
Batistuta is a striker who represented Argentina from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s.
In his first appearance in the 1994 World Cup in the United States, he scored a hat-trick in the first match against Greece and made his debut on the World Cup stage intensely.
He participated in a total of three World Cups, scoring 4 goals in the 1994 World Cup in the United States, 5 goals in the 1998 World Cup in France, and 1 goal in the 2002 World Cup Korea-Japan.
Prior to Messi, he was the all-time top scorer for an Argentine player in a World Cup final.
However, Batistuta was unable to tie the knot with a World Cup victory.
In particular, during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, Argentina was in the 'group of death' with England, Sweden, and Nigeria, and experienced a shocking exit from the group stage with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss.
In the end, Batistuta's national team career came to a dreary end after the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.
Batistuta participated as a commentator for a Qatar broadcaster during the Qatar World Cup, and shed tears the moment Argentina won the championship, which became a hot topic.
He was emotional because his juniors had managed to win the World Cup, which he had not been able to achieve.
'German legend' Lothar Matheus
Messi participated in a total of 26 matches in 5 World Cups, surpassing the record for the most matches (25) held by Matthaus of Germany.
Matheus competed five times in a row, from the 1982 World Cup in Spain to the 1998 World Cup in France.
1982 and 1986 World Cup runner-up.
During the 1990 World Cup in Italy, he showed his peak skills and lifted the championship cup as captain.
Matheus scored 4 goals in this competition.
And during the 1994 World Cup in the United States, we faced Korea.
At that time, we were dragged 3-0 in the first half, but scored two goals in the second half and lost 3-2.
We lost against Germany, the number 1 player in the FIFA rankings at the time, but it was a very well fought match.
In particular, when Hong Myung-bo scored a wonderful mid-range shot, he passed Matheus in front of him and succeeded in shooting.
'Italian Legend' Paolo Maldini
Messi also broke Italy's Paolo Maldini's record for the longest appearance in a World Cup (2,217 minutes).
Messi played 2,314 minutes in 26 matches, surpassing even Maldini.
2,314 minutes is over 38 hours in terms of hours.
Maldini played as a left-back, central defender and was a symbol of Italy's cross-barrier defense.
He was one of the most popular Italian stars of his time, having played for AC Milan for 25 years.
He competed in four consecutive matches from the 1990 World Cup in Italy to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan.
He placed third in the 1990 tournament in his country and finished runner-up at the 1994 World Cup in the United States (losing to Brazil in a penalty shoot-out in the final).
And at the 1998 World Cup in France, where his father, Cesare Maldini, was in charge, he lost to France in the quarterfinals on penalties and was eliminated.
At this time, his father became a manager and his son participated as a captain and became a hot topic.
During the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, they faced us in the round of 16.
In this match, he was hit in the back of the head by Lee Chun-soo's kick, and it is a famous scene that is still talked about.
And in the second half of extra time, when Ahn Jung-hwan headed golden goal, he failed to properly block Ahn Jung-hwan, providing an excuse for conceding.
The defeat against Korea ended Maldini's final World Cup.
Maldini never had a chance to win the World Cup, unfortunately, Italy lifted the trophy four years later at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where he did not play.
'Scoring machine' Brazil's Ronaldo, Germany's Gerd Müller, Klose
Messi broke the World Cup record for most points scored.
He added 7 goals and 3 assists for a career high of 13 goals and 8 assists during this contest, accumulating 21 offensive points.
The previous record for the most attack points was 19 jointly held by Ronaldo (Brazil), Gerd Müller (Germany), and Miroslav Klose (Germany).
Messi was tied with them until the semifinals, when he broke the record by scoring two goals in the final against France.
The longest standing record holder is Germany's Gerd Müller.
He was a striker who represented Germany in the 1970s, and his goal-making and positioning skills were outstanding.
He was, in a word, a ghost at sniffing the bone.
He participated in two World Cups in 1970 and 1974, becoming the top scorer with 10 goals in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico and contributing to the team's championship with four goals in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.
In particular, he scored the winning goal in the final against the Netherlands, leading to a 2-1 victory.
Until the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, he kept his place as the top scorer in the World Cup for a long time with 14 goals.
By the way, the player who broke Müller's record for most goals is Ronaldo of Brazil.
He broke Müller's record with 15 career goals at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Ronaldo was included in the Brazilian national team for the 1994 World Cup in the United States when he was 17 years old.
However, at the time, he was pushed by seniors like Romario and Bebetu, so he could not play a single game, and he watched the team win from the bench.
During the 1998 World Cup in France, he developed into the team's ace and leading striker, and was very active with 4 goals and 3 assists.
However, he performed particularly poorly in the final against France, and the team also suffered a 3-0 rout.
However, four years later, he lifted the championship cup at the Korea-Japan World Cup and brushed off his disappointment.
In particular, he scored two goals alone in the final against Germany, leading to a 2-0 victory.
Ronaldo was the top scorer in the competition with eight goals.
In his last appearance at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, he added three more goals, surpassing Müller as the World Cup's top scorer with 15 goals.
**If the 'Go to view' button is not pressed, copy and paste the address into the address bar.