Piers Morgan: "Messi is the greatest in history... in terms of missed penalties"

Journalist **Piers Morgan** has spoken out about the fact that the forward of the Argentina national team, **[Lionel Messi](https://www.championat.com/football/ "Lionel Messi")**, missed a penalty in the 2026 World Cup match against Austria (2-0). [World Cup 2026 – final round. Group J. 2nd round June 22, 2026, Monday. 20:00 MSK /team/logo/16779594861949298941.png) Argentina End 2 : 0 /team/logo/1677960306900491018.png) Austria **1:0** Messi – 38' **2:0** Messi – 90+5' ](https://www.championat.com/football/ "Live coverage of the match Argentina - Austria") The 38-year-old attacker missed the penalty in the ninth minute at 0:0 by shooting it into the bottom right corner, but the ball went wide of the post.  “🐐 [The greatest in history] — in terms of missed penalties,” Morgan wrote on social media, playing on the English abbreviation GOAT (greatest of all time). Yet Messi scored a hat-trick in this match, which marked his 17th and 18th goals in the world championships. This made him the best goalscorer in World Cup history, surpassing former German striker Miroslav Klose with 16 goals. /s/60x60/tournir/1764942652765492762.png) [ World Cup 2026 Calendar ](https://www.championat.com/football/) /s/60x60/tournir/1764942652765492762.png) [2026 World Cup Rankings](https://www.championat.com/football/) Material related to this topic [ ](https://www.championat.com/football/) [ “It's hard to believe”. Words of Messi after the great record at the World Cup ](https://www.championat.com/football/) --- ## Related Articles 1. [Luka Zidane Discusses Mental Challenges at World Cup 2026](https://pitchpulsemedia.com/en/news/luka-zidane-discusses-mental-challenges-at-world-cup-2026) 2. [Mundial 2026](https://banthangvn.com/vi/news/messi-lap-cu-up-vuot-qua-marta-e-tro-thanh-cau-thu-ghi-nhieu-ban-thang-nhat-lich-su-world-cup)