Lionel Messi
In the match against Austria, Messi scored two goals—one in the 38th minute and another in stoppage time of the second half.
In doing so, he became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history. The Argentine surpassed Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who had previously scored 16 goals across four World Cups.
Heading into the 2026 World Cup—his sixth—Messi had 13 career World Cup goals to his name. But the great Argentine got off to a magical start at the tournament, which is being held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In the previous match against Algeria (3–0), he scored all three of his team’s goals and tied Klose’s record. And in the match against Austria, he added two more goals to his tally, single-handedly taking the lead in the World Cup’s all-time scoring list with 18 goals.
Messi could have scored a hat trick in this match as well, but he missed a penalty kick early in the game.
Paradoxically, even in that moment, the great Argentine set two records at once—it was his 8th penalty kick at World Cups, three of which he missed.
Messi has now scored in six consecutive World Cup matches (including the 2022 World Cup), tying the tournament record. If he scores in the next match as well, he will become the sole leader in that category.
Despite the uniqueness of the 38-year-old Argentine’s achievement (he turns 39 on June 24), his record could already be broken at this World Cup. France’s Kylian Mbappé has 14 goals so far, and he scored twice in the first match of the group stage. For the 27-year-old Mbappé, this tournament is the third of his career. Therefore, he has every chance—if not in this tournament, then in future ones—to eventually surpass the great “messiah” of soccer.
