World Cup Sports Desk: Lionel Messi stands as one of the most prolific penalty takers in FIFA World Cup history. The Argentine superstar has scored 4 goals from the penalty spot during regular match play (the regulation 90 minutes plus 30 minutes of extra time), tying the all-time record for the most penalty goals in the tournament’s history.
With this remarkable milestone, Messi shares the top record with Portugal’s Eusébio, the Netherlands’ Rob Rensenbrink, fellow Argentine Gabriel Batistuta, and England’s Harry Kane. No footballer in the history of the World Cup has managed to score more than four penalties during standard match play.
Interestingly, all four of Messi’s successful in-game penalties were converted during his historic 2022 Qatar World Cup campaign. He found the back of the net from the spot against Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Croatia, and France.
However, the Argentine captain’s World Cup penalty record is not entirely flawless. In the 2018 World Cup, his spot-kick was famously saved by Iceland’s goalkeeper Hannes Halldórsson. Later, in the 2022 edition, Poland’s Wojciech Szczęsny also managed to block a Messi penalty.
According to official FIFA statistics, Messi has taken a total of six penalties during regular match play across his World Cup career—converting four and missing two—yielding a success rate of 66.7%.
It is important to note that penalty shootouts (tiebreakers) are categorized separately under FIFA statistics. In World Cup knockout stage shootouts, Messi has stepped up three times and maintained a flawless 100% success rate.
He converted his shootout penalties against the Netherlands in the 2014 semifinals, and twice more in 2022 against the Netherlands (quarterfinals) and France (final).
Beyond his penalty milestones, Messi is firmly cemented as one of the greatest overall goalscorers in tournament history. Competing across five World Cups from 2006 to 2022, he has scored a total of 13 goals.
He scored once in Germany (2006), four times in Brazil (2014), once in Russia (2018), and a personal best of seven goals in Qatar (2022). The 2010 edition in South Africa remains the only World Cup tournament where the Argentine maestro failed to find the net.
In the all-time FIFA World Cup top scorers list, Messi currently sits in a tie for fourth place. Germany’s Miroslav Klose dominates the peak of the chart with 16 goals, followed by Brazil’s Ronaldo in second with 15 goals, and Germany’s Gerd Müller in third with 14 goals.
Scoring 13 times each, France’s Just Fontaine and Argentina’s Lionel Messi jointly share the fourth position.