"Like a Stroll on the Field"... 'Football God' Messi Sets Historic Records While Running Less

Messi Covers 63% of Match Time Walking
298 High-Speed Sprints—Only Half of Kane’s Total
Achieves Double Digits in Both Career World Cup Goals and Assists

The "God of Football" Lionel Messi of Argentina, who seems to turn back the hands of time, is making headlines at the 2026 North and Central America World Cup by becoming the tournament's top scorer, despite spending most of his matches walking on the field.

Argentinian national soccer player Lionel Messi. Photo by AP Yonhap News Agency

According to the global sports media outlet The Athletic on July 11 (local time), Messi spent 63% of his total playing time in this tournament walking at a leisurely pace. Additionally, for 25% of the time, he stood still. For an ordinary player, it would be unimaginable to remain stationary for a quarter of the match in a World Cup, where the world's top talents compete fiercely.

The rest of his movement was far from a full sprint. Messi spent only 8.6% of his time jogging, significantly below the player average of 23%. Running accounted for just 2.8%, and sprinting was a mere 0.1%. The total distance he covered was also not what one would expect from a star player of a team that reached the semifinals. Over five matches up to the quarterfinals, Messi ran a total of 35,868 meters, nearly 15,000 meters less than his teammate Alexis Mac Allister, who ran 50,000 meters.

There were even more extreme scenes. In the round of 32 match against Cape Verde, Messi actually ran for only 51 seconds during the last 15 minutes of the second half. This means that, extrapolated to a 90-minute match, he was running for just over five minutes in total. His number of high-speed sprints at 20–25 km/h was 298 over five matches—about half that of England's striker Harry Kane, who recorded 600 sprints.

Despite this, his performance was the complete opposite. Messi, even while running such little distance, scored eight goals—tied with Kylian Mbappe of France for the most at the tournament—and created 15 scoring opportunities in the attacking area, placing third overall in this category.

The secret lies in energy management. Born in 1987, Messi conserves his energy by walking most of the time and then explodes at decisive moments. According to the heat map released by FIFA for this tournament, 71% of his sprints were concentrated in the attacking area, and 21% of those occurred inside the opponent’s penalty area.

That does not mean he has lost his explosiveness. In Argentina’s come-from-behind 3-2 win over Egypt in the round of 16, after being down 0-2, Messi attempted as many as nine rapid dribble breakthroughs. The media outlet commented, “Messi makes football look as easy as taking a stroll.”

Players are lifting Messi on their shoulders during the World Cup Round of 16 match between Argentina and Egypt. Photo by AP Yonhap News.

Behind Argentina’s smooth operation, despite Messi’s limited running, is the dedication of his teammates. Midfielders such as Rodrigo De Paul and Enzo Fernandez cover the spaces Messi leaves open with extraordinary work rates.

De Paul, known as Messi’s "bodyguard," previously expressed his special affection for the captain at a press conference. He said, “The most important thing is not to count how many more games Messi will play, but to enjoy every one of these moments while he is still playing. Not only us, but all Argentinians are watching his daily dedication.”

Meanwhile, defending champions Argentina are on course for a second consecutive title. On July 11, Argentina defeated Switzerland 3-1 in the quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinals for the second tournament in a row. In this match, Messi provided an assist from a corner kick for his 10th career World Cup assist, becoming the first player ever to reach double digits in both goals and assists at the World Cup.

Coincidentally, the semifinal opponent is England, led by Kane. This sets up a showdown on the road to the final between Messi—who runs the least—and Kane—who runs the most. This year’s semifinals consist only of countries with previous World Cup wins: Argentina, England, France, and Spain. This marks only the third time in history, following 1970 and 1990, that the semifinals are comprised exclusively of former champions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.