Lionel Messi made history for the wrong reasons in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match against Egypt. Messi set a record that he would likely want to forget as Argentina pulled off a dramatic 3-2 victory in Atlanta on 7 July 2026. Specifically, the Argentina captain became the first player in World Cup history to miss four penalties in open play.
The 39-year-old forward also became the first player ever to fail to convert two spot-kicks in a single edition of the tournament. Messi had previously missed a penalty against Austria during the group stage earlier in the summer. Consequently, Messi now holds the record for both the most penalties taken and the most penalties missed in World Cup history, excluding shootouts.
A Difficult Night in Atlanta for the Argentina Captain
The record-breaking moment happened in the 20th minute of the match at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He now holds a Guinness World Record for missing four penalties at FIFA World Cups, which is twice as many as any other player.
Argentina trailed Egypt 1-0 after a header from Yasser Ibrahim. Therefore, the South American side needed an equaliser and earned a penalty. Messi stepped up to the spot, but Egypt’s young goalkeeper, Mostafa Shobeir, guessed the direction perfectly. Shobeir dived to his right and parried the ball away to keep his team in the lead.
This failure from 12 yards put immense pressure on the defending world champions. Argentina eventually fell behind 2-0 before launching a massive second-half comeback. Despite his struggle from the penalty spot, Messi redeemed himself by assisting a goal for Cristian Romero and scoring the equaliser himself. Ultimately, Enzo Fernández scored the winning goal in stoppage time to send Argentina to the quarter-finals.
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Breaking the All-Time World Cup Penalty Miss Record
Before this match, Messi was tied with Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan for the most penalties missed in World Cup history. Gyan famously missed two penalties during the 2006 and 2010 tournaments.
However, Messi’s fourth miss against Egypt officially pushed him past the Ghanaian legend. Meanwhile, Messi’s rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, has missed only one penalty in his World Cup career, which occurred against Iran in 2018.
Additionally, Messi has now missed exactly half of his eight non-shootout penalties at the World Cup. While he remains one of the greatest goalscorers in history, his success rate from the spot in this tournament has dropped to just 50 percent.
Lionel Messi’s History of World Cup Penalty Misses
Messi’s struggles from the penalty spot in the World Cup have spanned three different tournaments. Each miss has occurred during normal time or extra time, rather than during deciding shootouts.
The first miss in this sequence took place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. During a group stage match against Iceland, goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson used “mind games” to save Messi’s shot. Consequently, Argentina could only manage a 1-1 draw in that opening game.
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The second miss happened against Poland in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny made a save after Messi smashed the ball to the left side. Although Argentina won that match 2-0, it marked a growing trend of penalty difficulties for the captain.
In the 2026 tournament, Messi failed twice. First, he sent a spot-kick wide of the post against Austria during the group stage. Finally, the save by Mostafa Shobeir in the Round of 16 against Egypt completed the record-breaking set of misses.
Leading the Golden Boot Race Despite the Record
Despite the frustration of the missed penalty, his equaliser against Egypt was his eighth goal of the competition. This goal moved him ahead of France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland, who both have seven goals.
Messi also extended his own record for the longest consecutive game-scoring streak in World Cup history, having now scored in nine matches in a row. He is currently the all-time leading goalscorer in the tournament’s history with 21 goals.
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