Lionel Messi: Three records the Argentina talisman has made in the World Cup Final

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Lionel Messi, the eternal legend of modern-era football, has lifted the World Cup Trophy in the swansong for his country.

The Argentina legend, 35, has finally got his hands on the biggest prize of football, the World Cup.

In the final, the legendary player scored the first goal for Los Albicelestes from the penalty spot after Angel Di Maria was illegitimately fouled by Ousmane Dembele. Messi stepped up and made no mistake to slot the ball from nine yards, sending France keeper Hugo Lloris the wrong way. He then went on to score the third goal for Los Albicelestes in extra-time to win Argentina the World Cup after 36 years. The match ended 3-3 after 120 minutes and went to the tie-breaker. Argentina won in the penalties.

And in the final itself, the little magician has made three records. Let's take a look at those-

• Lionel Messi has become the player with the maximum number of appearances in the World Cup. He has played the most number of games with 26, surpassing former Germany player Lothar Matthaus (25). Miroslav Klose (24), Paolo Maldini (23) and Cristiano Ronaldo (22) completed the top five of the appearances chart.

• With his goal in the final, the Argentina talisman became the first player ever to score in every stage of a single World Cup edition. Messi scored in the group stages against Saudi Arabia and Mexico. He scored in the round of 16 against Australia, the quarterfinals against the Netherlands, the semifinal against Croatia and the final against France.
• Lionel Messi has scored 7 goals in this World Cup. The former Barcelona man is now the player with the most goal involvement at the World Cup. He has a total goal involvement of 21, with 13 goals and 8 assists.