With his brace against Austria, Lionel Messi has now scored in six consecutive World Cup matches, a feat only achieved by two other players - France’s Just Fontaine in 1958 and Brazil’s Jairzinho in 1970. | Photo Credit: AP

Lionel Messi has already scored five goals in two matches at this World Cup, and he has done that by having a stroll around the park for most of it.

One of the defining features of the modern game is high-intensity running and pressing. But if you watch Argentina closely, Messi spends most of his time walking, jogging or simply standing still.

In the 3-0 win against Algeria, Messi covered just 7kms, which amounts to roughly 94 steps per minute. By comparison, in the same game, his teammate Enzo Fernandez averaged around 150 steps. Yet Messi finished with a hat-trick, his first at the World Cup.

After the first matchday of the tournament, Messi was ranked among the top three for the least distance covered by an outfield player.

But why does he do that?

At nearly 39 years old, instead of adopting a high-intensity style, Messi chooses to conserve energy for the moments that matter most, in build-up play and the final third. It’s an odd visual: Messi ambling across the park as play unfolds around him. Yet it is also unmistakable that this is a genius at his deceptive best, feigning inaction to evade the attention of his markers.

He then chooses the optimum moment to ghost between defenders into space, where he can unleash his devastating dribbling skills and close control to cause havoc. That was on display on Monday for Messi’s record-breaking 17th World Cup goal.

At the 37:38 mark against Austria at the Dallas Stadium, Messi received the ball on the right before setting Thiago Almada away through the middle. As the move gathered pace towards Austria’s goal, Messi set off on his scooter, sprinting past Paul Wanner before settling into a jog with acres of space ahead of him.

When Facunda Medina squared it into the area, Almada was positioned to hit it first time but let it roll behind to Messi, who arrived at the edge of the box unbeknownst to the Austrians and stroked it into the bottom corner to break through Austria’s resistance.

It’s the type of goal he has scored numerous times in an illustrious career, perfecting that exact run, that jog, that ability to arrive in space and pass the ball beyond the goalkeeper.

Messi himself explains this trait. “I have always played in teams that take on the protagonist role, both in Barcelona and now in Argentina. So, I try to lose my marker by disconnecting from the game, that way when we recover the ball, I have a little more time to be positioned and ready to attack or lead the counterattack,” he told Clank. “When I walk I analyse the opponent’s positioning, how we stand when we don’t have the ball, get away from the marker and be able to initiate a counterattack.”

This tactic has allowed Messi to continue producing the best version of himself in an Argentina shirt even at this age. Despite appearing to be uninvolved for long spells, Messi still has the most shots for Argentina with 13 in these two games, while also being the tournament’s top scorer.

In fact, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has designed this team so that Messi does not need to contribute much defensively. Messi’s name on the teamsheet places him on the right side of the attack, yet he has the licence to operate anywhere on the pitch. His defensive responsibilities on the right are often covered by Rodrigo de Paul and Nahuel Molina.

But this is not the first time Messi has played this way. According to The Athletic, Messi spent a little over 5kms walking during the 2022 World Cup. Argentina’s cycle between 2021 and 2023 is arguably among the most successful in the nation’s history, and much of that success came from the way the side was set up to maximise Messi’s attacking attributes. Perhaps that’s why Argentina has retained 17 members of its title-winning squad for this World Cup despite its ageing profile.

However, it remains to be seen whether the lack of defensive contribution from one player could hurt Argentina against stronger opposition in the knockout stages.

But on current form, can any team stop Messi, even at his walking best?

Published on Jun 23, 2026