Soccer Players Who Broke Records

Story by Tyson Q. Riley. Photo courtesy of Pxfuel.

Soccer, like all sports, brings people together. It has action, suspense and passion. And recently, the 2022 World Cup broke some records. There were 5.4 billion viewers for the tournament held in Qatar, and with over 16.7 million viewers, the World Cup final was the most watched men's World Cup in English-language TV history. Here are some soccer players who shined during this World Cup, and broke records of their own. 

Lionel Messi:

Lionel Messi, who many consider to be the greatest soccer player of all time, broke an astonishing amount of records this World Cup. Besides leading Argentina to win the 2023 World Cup, Messi was the first player to assist in five different World Cups and he has won the most Man of the Match awards. He is also a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Cristiano Ronaldo:

Even though Cristiano Ronaldo did not lead his team to victory during the World Cup after its loss to Morocco, he is also considered one of the greatest soccer players known to the sport. Ronaldo has broken a number of records having scored 807 career goals, scoring in 5 different World Cup tournaments, having the most hat tricks (scoring three goals in one game) with Real Madrid, and lastly, the most UEFA club competition goals (197).

Kylian Mbappe: 

Kylain Mbappe and the French team advanced to the World Cup finals, and even though they lost, he is known for being one of the youngest new stars of soccer and the future of the sport. He won a World Cup with France at the age of 19 and has set a record for 56 goals in 56 games. 

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior:

Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, better known as Neymar, is famous for his dribbling and holds multiple records. He has the most assists in a single UCL match, he is the youngest player to reach 100 international caps for Brazil and scored the fastest goal to this day in 14 seconds. 

Tyson Q. Riley is a 6th grade scholar at Friendship Woodridge International School.