Messi ties World Cup appearance record with Matthaus

LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Lionel Messi has tied the record for most appearances at the World Cup by playing for the 25th time for Argentina at soccer’s biggest tournament. Lothar Matthäus of Germany previously held the record outright. Messi is playing in his fifth and likely final World Cup. He will have a chance to break the overall appearance record because Argentina will play in either the final on Sunday or the third-place playoff on Saturday. Messi surpassed Diego Maradona as the Argentina player with the most appearances in the World Cup during the group stage and joined Gabriel Batistuta with 10 tournament goals by scoring a penalty against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.