The 'God of Football' Proves Himself Again... Rewriting Soccer History

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Lionel Messi, who has graced the World Cup stage for the past 20 years, has made another monumental mark in football history just one day before his 39th birthday.

Reporter Ha Seong-nyong looks back at the great journey of Messi, who has proven for himself that he is the greatest player of all time.

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Making his World Cup debut in 2006 at the age of 19 with a youthful face and the number 19 jersey, Messi made his mark on global football fans by scoring his debut goal with the support of his "idol," Diego Maradona.

However, he later suffered from the stigma of being a "player weak in the World Cup" for some time.

He remained scoreless in the 2010 South Africa tournament, and after losing to Germany in the 2014 Brazil final, he had to bow his head despite winning the tournament MVP. In 2018, he tasted the pain of elimination in the Round of 16.

Messi's true "World Cup prime" began in 2022, when he turned 35.

In his fifth World Cup appearance, he scored 7 goals, finally achieving his dream of winning the title and securing his second "Golden Ball."

[Lionel Messi (Immediately after winning the 2022 World Cup): I have longed for this moment. My teammates and the people of Argentina have as well. Now, we are the 'champions.']

Although it was expected that he would retire at the top, Messi, who stood on the "stage of dreams" again this year at age 39, is delivering an even more phenomenal performance.

After becoming the joint leader in all-time goals with the oldest hat-trick in World Cup history in the first match, he finally scored his 17th and 18th goals today (June 23), standing tall as the all-time top scorer.

Having scored 12 of his 18 goals after the age of 35, Messi has turned back the clock like the "God of Football" and is now "World Cup history" itself.

He holds not only the record for most goals but also the records for most matches played, most minutes played, and most wins. He even holds the record for the most penalty kicks attempted at 7 and the most misses at 3.

[Zlatan / FOX Commentator & Former Swedish National Team Player: When he missed the penalty kick, he showed a brief 'human side,' but soon displayed play that seemed to transcend the 'human level.' That is Messi. He already has 5 goals in 2 matches. I played in two World Cups and didn't score a single goal.]

Messi's wife, his childhood sweetheart whom he married in 2017, watched the historic moment with their three sons and expressed her emotion, saying, "It is an honor to watch him constantly make history."

(Video Editing: Park Ki-deok, Design: Choi Jae-young)

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