Argentina coach Scaloni highlights Lionel Messi’s sacrifice during final World Cup group stage match

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Instead of playing 90 minutes to build his lead in the World Cup Golden Boot race, Lionel Messi sacrificed his playing time for younger teammates.

Argentina’s final Group J game against Jordan was a dead rubber clash, as Argentina had secured their spot at the top of the group already.

But with Messi’s lead in the Golden Boot race being challenged by Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, the 38-year-old sat on the bench for 60 minutes so his younger teammates could receive an opportunity.

Lionel Scaloni reveals Messi’s gesture for teammates instead of chasing stats

Argentina’s manager Lionel Scaloni spoke after their 3-1 win over Jordan and revealed that Messi made the decision to come off the bench instead of chase more goals for his teammates.

“He chose today to think about his teammates who are getting minutes rather than those numbers that so many people talk about to boost his record. That says a lot about what his teammates and the Argentina team mean to him.”

Messi is not only leading the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot race with six goals, but he’s also the all-time leading scorer with 19 goals. Instead of adding more to his record to make it harder to catch, Messi made the smarter choice.

He got to rest for 60 minutes before scoring a lovely free-kick in the 80th minute to add a goal despite his limited playing time.

With the knockout rounds beginning on Sunday, the low stakes nature of the Jordan clash made it smart for Messi to rest and an opportunity for players who might not get minutes otherwise.

Lionel Messi will likely lose his position as all-time top scorer

Messi could add a lot more goals to his tally if Argentina play the maximum number of five games to reach either the Final or the third-place game.

However, the expanded World Cup format guarantees future goalscorers will have one extra game per tournament to break Messi’s record.

Kylian Mbappe is already at 16 goals and is 25 years old, so he will likely feature in multiple more World Cups as France’s premier scoring threat. This record should belong to him one day.

But Messi holding the crown for now in the sunset of his career is a nice touch to his incredible footballing legacy.