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Lionel Messi has more than one accolade to play for when Argentina face Spain in the World Cup final tonight.
The forward, who is bidding to win his second title in a row for his country, is in a race for the Golden Boot with France star Kylian Mbappe, but now up against it in his bid for the crown.
Mbappe and Messi have gone blow for blow throughout the tournament, but many thought the opportunity would open up for the France captain to pull ahead in a less intense third-place play-off against England.
With both players on eight goals for this edition, that materialised, with Mbappe netting twice against the Three Lions to take his total to 10.
Messi, still on eight, has one game – the final tonight against Spain – to equal Mbappe, which would see him take the crown based on his number of assists in the tournament – which is used as a tie-breaker.
But he is also now behind Mbappe in terms of the most goals scored in World Cup history – by one.
Kylian Mbappe (pictured) has passed Lionel Messi to become the World Cup’s all-time highest goal scorer
Messi, though, has one game to pass Mbappe, with Argentina taking on Spain in tonight’s final
Messi had broken the record set by Germany’s Miroslav Klose in the group stages (16), and now sits on 21 goals with almost certainly one game left in the 39-year-old’s World Cup career.
Mbappe had been one behind him for almost all of the tournament, but, following his double against England, is now on 22.
Messi faces a tough task against Spain, who have by far had the tournament’s standout defence. They have conceded one goal in their seven games so far.
Mbappe has a much better goals-to-game ratio than Messi, having scored his 22 goals in 22 games. Messi’s 21 have come in 33 games across six World Cups. Mbappe has played in three.
At 27, Mbappe will almost certainly soar past the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, but Messi could yet hold the title for four years depending on how he performs against Spain.
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