Messi made 9 goals in the knockout stage of the World Cup, second only to Ronaldo’s 10 goals since 1966

December 14 World Cup semi-finals, Messi shot meritorious service, Julian Alvarez scored twice, Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 to advance to the World Cup final.
After contributing one goal and one assist in the early hours of this morning, Messi scored three goals and six assists in the knockout stage of the World Cup and was directly involved in producing nine goals. Since the detailed statistics of the World Cup were available in 1966, this figure has tied for the second most.
Ronaldo: 10 balls
Lionel Messi, Gad Muller: 9 balls
Paul Rossi, Kempes, Thomas Muller: 8 balls