Lionel Messi became the highest goal scorer in men’s World Cup history Monday, moving up to 17 and breaking a tie with Germany legend Miroslav Klose in Argentina’s Group J match against Austria.
The Argentina captain has now scored in six consecutive World Cup games since 2022.
Messi, after missing a penalty early on against Austria that briefly denied him the record, struck home in the 39th minute to give Argentina a 1-0 lead in Dallas.
Messi had tied Klose’s record by scoring a hat trick during Argentina’s 3-0 over Algeria to kick off the 2026 World Cup on June 16. The hat trick stands as the 11th of Messi’s international career, but first at a World Cup.
“It’s an honor being up there for what it means, being alongside Klose and [Brazil’s] Ronaldo, who is there also. But it doesn’t mean anything,” Messi said of the record on June 16. “[Kylian] Mbappé is there, too, he scored twice [on Tuesday]. At the end of the day, they are stats and nothing more.”
Messi scored his first World Cup goal on June 16, 2006, at 18 years old, netting a second-half strike against Serbia and Montenegro.
Twenty years later, he continues to break records by leading in goal count and becoming the first player to feature in six different editions of a men’s World Cup.
The goal puts Messi up to 120 international goals for Argentina, trailing only Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 143.
