Lionel Messi breaks World Cup record immediately after kick-off during final

Lionel Messi broke another World Cup record as soon as he stepped on the pitch for Sunday's tournament finale.

The 35-year-old leads Argentina into the clash against France at the Lusail Stadium intent on winning the World Cup for the first time in his career. And the forward's final appearance, which is set to be his last in the competition, saw him rack up the most appearance at a World Cup.

Messi's now got 26 World Cup appearances under his belt across the five times he's participated in the tournament since his first involvement as a teen in 2006. The record was previously held by Germany icon Lothar Matthaus.

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The retired German veteran attained 25 appearances in the tournament, and just like Messi, he achieved the accolade across five World Cups. And lagging behind Messi and Matthaus is the Paris Saint-Germain attacker's rival Cristiano Ronaldo who has 22 World Cup appearances in five tournaments.

However, unlike Matthaus who bagged a World Cup Winners medal in 1990 when Germany defeated Argentina, Messi is still chasing glory in the tournament. His desire to win the World Cup trophy has been apparent throughout the tournament in Qatar where he also broke compatriot Gabriel Batistuta's record of most goals in the competition.

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Messi's cool penalty effort against Croatia in the semi-final saw him leap past Batistuta in the goal stakes with a tally of 11. But Argentina legend Batistuta had no problem with Messi taking his spot, he said: "[Messi breaking the record] didn't hurt me at all because I enjoyed it while I had it Leo deserves this.

"If there's one person who has to be up there, it's him. Messi is not an alien, he is a human being who plays better football than anyone else. When that person exceeds you, you can't suffer, he just gives you pleasure."

Messi can also lift the tournament's Golden Boot in today's thrilling clash. He and opposite number Kylian Mbappe both have five goals to their name going into the clash.

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