Lionel Messi continued with his brilliant start to the 2026 World Cup after he grabbed a brace against Austria on Monday evening while wearing a different shirt from his teammates. Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring against Austria. He cemented his name in the books as one of the greatest players in history after he became the leading goalscorer in the World Cup. The soon-to-be 39-year-old missed a penalty but quickly atoned for his mistake to score on either side of the half to take his tally to 18 goals, two ahead of the previous record holder, Miroslav Klose. It also makes him the outright top scorer at this year’s competition, taking him to five after his opening hat-trick against Algeria. Despite spending his last few years away from the rigours of European leagues, the Argentine star has arrived at the World Cup in top condition, looking to defend the title he won four years. Why Lionel Messi has a different shirt at World Cup 2022 Throughout the competition, the former Barcelona star will wear a different shirt from his teammates thanks to the multiple new introductions this year.
FIFA came up with new patches to honour the players during the five-week-long tournament in North America. For starters, players who have appeared in five or more competitions will have a special ‘legacy’ patch on their sleeve. Messi, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Yuto Nagatomo and Manuel Neuer, are the ones with the patch at this year’s World Cup. Additionally, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has a Golden Ball patch, which is reserved for players who won the best player of the tournament in past tournaments. Messi has two having won in eight years apart in 2014 and 2022. Other badges on Lionel Messi’s shirt The other badges are shared with the rest of his Argentine teammates, with a huge FIFA World Champions badge at the centre of the shirt which celebrates their 2022 triumph. They also have another golden badge on the sleeve, which is only won by countries that have previously won the World Cup. Apart from Argentina, who have three titles to their name, other countries with the golden badge on their sleeves are Brazil (5), Germany (4), France and Uruguay (2), while England and Spain have one title each. Italy (4) is the only previous winner who is not at the World Cup.
