The two stars of Argentine football have been protagonists in the World Cups, even together.
Two lives, two icons, two legends, who by coincidence or football magic represented the Argentina team and even worked together in any way. Diego Armando Maradona and Lionel Messi, the two loudest and most bombastic names in the prolific history of the Albiceleste who have left their mark on the sport and of course the World Cup.
As a player, there were 4 World Cups that Diego could play: the debutant Spain 1982, the unforgettable Mexico 1986, the painful Italy 1990 and the controversial United States 1994. Lio, for his part, added his fifth participation in Qatar 2022, which had started in Germany 2006 , South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018. Precisely in South Africa, Maradona was the coach of the Argentina team and Lio Messi his figure, with the emblematic number 10.
In those four participations, Maradona played 21 games (12 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses): 5 in 1982, 7 in both 1986 and 1990 and 2 in 1994. While in the five participations Messi and After playing the final of 2022 against France, he will play 26 matches (16 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses), surpassing Lothar Matthäus in that record. The man from Rosario played 3 in 2006, 5 in 2010, 7 in 2014, 4 in 2018 and the potential 7 in this edition.
In terms of offensive production, Maradona and Messi have very similar numbers. The former scored 8 goals and the latter reached 11 with the score in the semi-final against Croatia to also become his team’s top scorer in this competition, beating Gabriel Omar Batistuta. And as for assists, both add up to 8.
In the end, Pelusa found absolute glory in the 1986 title and would lose the throne to Germany four years later, while Flea already saw the Germans win the cup in 2014, so now they will seek revenge in Qatar.
Maradona and Messi in the World Cups: all the numbers
In summary, these are the statistics of goals, assists, matches and titles of Diego Maradona and Lio Messi in World Cups:
*In the absence of the Qatar 2022 vs. France.
Source: Goal