Lionel Messi etched his name into the FIFA World Cup record books once again on Monday, but this time for a statistic he would rather avoid. The Argentina captain became the player with the most missed penalties in World Cup history after failing to convert from the spot during his side's Group J encounter against Austria at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The miss came in the opening stages of a high-intensity contest that had been billed as another potential milestone night for the 38-year-old. Messi entered the match level with Germany legend Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals and needed just one more strike to become the tournament's outright leading goalscorer.
Argentina made a dominant start and quickly took control of possession, pinning Austria deep inside their own half. La Albiceleste carved out a gilt-edged opportunity to take the lead when Lautaro Martinez burst into the penalty area and went down after being sandwiched between two Austrian defenders. While the referee did not initially award a penalty, he was sent to the pitchside monitor following a brief VAR review and, after a second look, pointed to the spot.
With the clock approaching only the eighth minute, Messi stepped up amid huge cheers from supporters inside the stadium. However, the Argentine star was unable to find the net, firing wide of the post after a slow run-up.
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While Messi a missed chance to move ahead of Klose in the World Cup scoring charts, the penalty miss also created an unwanted record. It was the third penalty Messi has failed to convert in World Cup matches, excluding shootouts, making him the outright leader for the most such misses since detailed records began being tracked in 1966.
Prior to the Austria match, Messi shared the record with former Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan, who missed penalties against the Czech Republic in 2006 and more famously against Uruguay in 2010, after Luis Suarez's handball in the quarter-finals. Messi's previous World Cup penalty misses came against Iceland in 2018 and Poland in 2022.
The miss served as a reminder that even one of football's greatest players of all time can be susceptible to nerves on the biggest of stages. It was the first World Cup penalty Messi has failed to get on target, with his previous misses both saved by the opposing goalkeepers.
Despite already owning a remarkable collection of World Cup records, including the most appearances, most Man of the Match awards and most appearances across a record six different editions, Messi now finds himself alone atop a far less celebrated list.
However, the setback proved only temporary. The Argentina captain later found the net against Austria to score his 17th World Cup goal, moving clear of Germany legend Miroslav Klose and becoming the outright leading goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history.
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