Argentine star Lionel Messi will become, on Sunday, the oldest player in World Cup history, excluding goalkeepers, to play in the final. Messi has led his team to the final for the second consecutive edition. When he faces Spain in the match, he will be 39 years and 25 days old, giving him a new World Cup record, noting that he has scored 21 goals, played the most matches (33 appearances), and participated in the most tournaments (6 times), equaling Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the Italian record of Dino Zoff, the famous goalkeeper, will remain standing until further notice. When Zoff guarded the goal for Italy in the 1982 World Cup final, he was 40 years and 133 days old. He is thus the oldest player to have played in a final of the tournament, which began in 1930. When excluding goalkeepers, Messi will become the oldest, surpassing Brazilian Nilton Santos, who was 37 years and 32 days old when he represented the Samba dancers in the final of the 1961 edition against Czechoslovakia, which Brazil won 3-1. If Messi continues to score World Cup goals on Sunday, he will break another record, becoming the oldest player to score a goal in the World Cup final. The record is currently held by Swedish player Nils Liedholm, who scored when his team lost 2-5 to Brazil in the 1958 final.