Lionel Messi became the tournament’s all-time leading scorer after netting twice against Austria on June 22, 2026, in a second-round group stage match. Argentina’s number 10 reached his fifth goal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, bringing his total tally to 18 goals since scoring his first in 2006 against Serbia and Montenegro.
With his first goal of the match, Messi surpassed Miroslav Klose the German striker who had held the record of 16 goals since the 2014 World Cup and with whom Messi had tied last Tuesday after scoring a hat-trick against Algeria thereby becoming the sole record-holder for the most goals in the history of the planet’s most prestigious football tournament.
It is worth noting that Klose no longer stands alone in second place: a few hours after Messi broke the record, France’s Kylian Mbappé scored twice against Iraq, matching the German’s tally of 16 goals. Consequently, the French number 10 is now just two goals behind the Argentine.
