LIONEL MESSI'S 72 GAMES

• Sep 15, 2025
• History Statistics

Messi missed chance to equal Hurtado’s record

Being rested in the last Argentina’s qualifier in 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign vs Ecuador, Lionel Messi missed a historical chance to equal the record for number of World Cup qualifiers played.
His appearance in the preceding game vs Venezuela, presumably last qualifier in his career, was the 72nd for him – one shy of the record belonged to Iván Hurtado. The retired Ecuador’s stalwart has played 73 qualifiers between 1993 and 2009 (by edition: 8 in the 1994 campaign, 15 in 1998, 17 in 2002, 17 in 2006, 16 in 2010).
They two are the only players to reach 70+ games in the tournament so far, while 9 others totalled 60+ World Cup qualifiers. Almost all of them, except a Honduran Maynor Figueroa, represent South American nations.