Lionel Messi once again played a decisive role as Argentina edged Cape Verde in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32. However, an official FIFA decision prevented the Argentine captain from moving closer to another historic World Cup record.

Messi appeared to finish the match with one goal and one assist, but the official match report changed that statistic.

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The Assist FIFA Took Away from Messi

During extra time, Messi delivered a corner kick that led to Argentina's 3-2 winner.

Initially, the goal was celebrated by Cristian "Cuti" Romero, which would have given Messi another World Cup assist.

However, FIFA's official match report credited the goal as an own goal by Borges, meaning Messi was not awarded the assist.

The Historic Record That Slipped Away

As a result of the ruling, Messi remains on nine World Cup assists.

That leaves him one behind Fritz Walter, who still holds the all-time World Cup record with 10 assists, a mark that has stood since 1958.

The all-time leaders are:

• Fritz Walter — 10 assists
• Lionel Messi — 9
• Diego Maradona — 8
• Uwe Seeler — 8
• Raymond Kopa — 8

World Cup 2026 Sets a New Own Goal Record

FIFA's ruling also added another own goal to the tournament's statistics.

With Borges officially credited with the own goal, the 2026 FIFA World Cup reached 14 own goals, surpassing the 12 recorded at Russia 2018, which, according to MisterChip, had been the previous tournament record.

While Messi missed out on another historic milestone, the match still became part of World Cup history for a different reason.

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