Lionel Messi produced another outstanding display to lead Argentina to a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory over England in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final, but the captain’s brilliance was still not enough to surpass a historic record held by former Super Eagles skipper Austin ‘Jay-Jay’ Okocha, The Punch reports.
Argentina overturned a second-half deficit at Atlanta Stadium after Anthony Gordon gave England the lead in the 50th minute.
Messi sparked the turnaround by setting up Enzo Fernandez’s equaliser in the 85th minute before providing the decisive assist for Lautaro Martinez’s stoppage-time winner, sending the defending champions into a second straight World Cup final.
Data from Opta and Sofascore showed that Messi completed nine successful dribbles against England, the most by any player at the 2026 World Cup.
The 39-year-old also registered 94 touches, created four big chances and recorded seven touches inside England’s penalty area, the same number managed collectively by the entire England team.
Opta also noted that Messi became the first player since detailed World Cup records began in 1966 to record at least nine successful dribbles and two assists in a single knockout match.
However, his dribbling tally still falls short of Okocha’s enduring World Cup record of 15 successful dribbles, achieved during Nigeria’s round-of-16 clash against Italy at the 1994 tournament in the United States.
Then just 21 years old, Okocha completed 15 of his 16 dribble attempts over 120 minutes at Foxboro Stadium on July 5, 1994, against an Italian defence that included Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta and Demetrio Albertini, although the Super Eagles suffered a 2-1 extra-time defeat.
Okocha’s record remains the highest ever recorded at the World Cup. Brazil’s Jairzinho and England’s Paul Gascoigne are next with 13 successful dribbles each, while Diego Maradona, Jamal Musiala and Johan Cruyff all finished with 12.
Earlier this month, Spain’s Lamine Yamal equalled another of Okocha’s World Cup achievements from France 1998 by averaging 12 successful dribbles per 90 minutes across appearances totalling more than 200 minutes, a benchmark Okocha set during Nigeria’s run to the round of 16.
Messi’s match-winning contribution against England also stretched his streak of recording either a goal or an assist to 11 consecutive World Cup matches.
He now tops the Golden Boot standings with eight goals and four assists ahead of Sunday’s final against Spain, where Argentina will bid to retain the trophy they lifted four years ago.
