Why Lionel Messi runs more than runs at the World Cup

Lionel Messi has already scored five goals in two games at this World Cup, and he has done so by spending most of the time walking around the park.

One of the defining characteristics 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 just standing still.

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

After the first day of the tournament, Messi was among the top three for the shortest distance covered by a field player.

But why does he do that?

At almost 39 years old, rather than adopting a high-intensity style, Messi chooses to conserve energy for the moments that matter most, during the build-up of the game and the final third. It’s a strange image: Messi strolling around the park as the game unfolds around him. Yet it’s also undeniable that this is genius at his deceptive best, pretending to do nothing to avoid the attention of his markers.

He then chooses the optimal moment to fly between defenders and into space, where he can unleash his devastating dribbling skills and close control to wreak havoc. This was evident from Messi’s record-breaking 17th World Cup goal on Monday.

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

When Facunda Medina put the ball into the area, Almada was in position to hit it for the first time, but he let it roll behind to Messi, who unbeknownst to the Austrians arrived at the edge of the penalty area and stroked it into the bottom corner to break Austria’s resistance.

It’s the kind of goal he has scored countless times throughout his illustrious career, perfecting that exact running, that jogging and that ability to get into space and pass the ball past the goalkeeper.

Messi himself explains this trait. «I have always played in teams that take the lead role, both in Barcelona and now in Argentina. So I try to lose my marker by disconnecting from the game. That way, when we get the ball back, I have a little more time to get into position and be ready to attack or lead the counter-attack,» he told Clank. «When I run, I analyze 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 counter-attack.»

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

In fact, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has designed this team so that Messi doesn’t have to contribute much defensively. Messi’s name on the team sheet places him on the right side of the attack, yet he has the license 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 just over 5km walking during the 2022 World Cup. Argentina’s 2021-2023 cycle is arguably one of the most successful in the country’s history, and much of that success came from the way the squad was set up to maximize Messi’s attacking qualities. Perhaps that is why Argentina has retained 17 members of its title-winning squad for this World Cup despite its aging profile.

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

But can a team stop Messi on current form, even when he is running at his best?

Published on June 23, 2026