The Argentina captain scored twice in a 2-0 win over Austria to become the highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history and secure his team’s place in the knockout stage
Lionel Messi became the highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history after scoring twice in Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Austria in their Group J match on Monday.
The Argentina captain entered the match level with Germany legend Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals following his hat-trick against Algeria in the tournament opener. Despite missing an early penalty against Austria, Messi recovered to score in the 38th minute before adding a second goal in injury time to take his tally to 18 and move clear at the top of the all-time scoring chart.
The win secured defending champions Argentina a place in the knockout stage with one group match remaining. “There were moments when I was really angry about missing the penalty, but I was able to make up for it,” Messi said after the match.
The 38-year-old has now scored in six consecutive World Cup matches dating back to the 2022 tournament. His 18th World Cup goal also moved him ahead of Brazil’s Marta, who holds the women’s World Cup record with 17 goals.
Messi had equalled Klose’s record with a hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria on June 16. The hat-trick was the first of his World Cup career and the 11th for Argentina at international level.
The goals against Austria also took Messi’s international tally to 122, leaving him second on the all-time men’s international scoring list behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s 143 goals.
Argentina now lead Group J with six points from two matches and will conclude their group-stage campaign against Jordan. The victory also extended Argentina’s World Cup winning streak to eight matches since their opening defeat to Saudi Arabia at the 2022 tournament.
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