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.
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Messi had tied Klose’s record by scoring a hat trick during Argentina’s 3-0 win 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.
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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.
