The captain of the reigning world champions has made a career out of rewriting football history. Turning 39 in June, Lionel Messi might be approaching what could be his final World Cup — at least for any ordinary player.

Messi, however, has always operated on a level beyond the ordinary. As the Argentina skipper and eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, he heads into World Cup 2026 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico possibly for one last global showcase.

Here are the records that Messi could potentially break as he leads Argentina in their quest to defend the title this summer.

Argentina have the opportunity to join an elite group as only the third nation in history to win back-to-back World Cups. So far, only Italy and Brazil have managed to retain the title of world champions.

Italy achieved the feat under Vittorio Pozzo, winning both the 1934 and 1938 editions. However, captain Virginio Rosetta from 1934 was succeeded by Giuseppe Meazza in 1938.

Brazil’s 1958 captain Hilderaldo Bellini was part of the 1962 squad that successfully defended the trophy, though that team was captained by defender Mauro Ramos in Chile.

Argentina begin their 2026 campaign against Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium on June 16, just a day before Portugal face DR Congo at NRG Stadium.

That scheduling could set up another chapter in Messi’s long-standing rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo. If Messi takes the field, he could surpass Ronaldo to become the first footballer ever to appear at six different men’s World Cups. Both currently share the record with four other players, all of whom have since retired.

Mexico’s veteran goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa could also feature in his sixth World Cup squad, although he was an unused substitute in both 2006 and 2010.

Having already played in five World Cups, Messi holds the record for the most appearances at the tournament. Ronaldo trails him by four matches.

The Argentina captain’s consistency makes it hard to imagine him not scoring the four goals needed to surpass Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading World Cup scorer.

Messi currently has 13 goals across five tournaments, equalling the tally of France’s Just Fontaine, who won the Golden Boot in 1958, and sitting just three behind Klose’s total of 16.

Overtaking Fontaine’s single-tournament record of 13 goals would be a tall order, but if Ronaldo fails to score in 2026, Messi could equal his rival’s remarkable record of scoring in five separate World Cups — all of Ronaldo’s coming consecutively.

When Messi scored against France in the 2022 World Cup final, he became the oldest player ever to score and win in a World Cup final.

The outright oldest final goalscorer remains Niels Liedholm, the AC Milan legend, who was 87 days older when he scored in the 1958 final — though Sweden lost to Brazil. If Argentina reach another final and Messi finds the net, he will claim another milestone.

Ronaldo has scored in all five of his previous tournaments from 2006 to 2022, but Messi stands alone as the only player to record assists in five different World Cups. Extending that to six would simply strengthen his already unmatched record.

Both Messi and Croatia captain Luka Modric have taken part in three World Cup penalty shoot-outs, each scoring in all of them — a shared record that one could own outright in 2026.

In contrast, Roberto Baggio remains the only player to have participated in three World Cup shoot-outs without scoring in all three, his infamous miss in 1994 still etched in football memory.

Of course, there’s always the possibility of new, unpredictable records — perhaps the most goals in a single match or the fastest goal in World Cup history. For those, fans will simply have to wait and watch as Messi writes yet another chapter in his extraordinary career.