Lionel Messi made football history on Monday night by scoring his 17th World Cup goal, moving past Miroslav Klose and becoming the tournament’s all-time leading scorer. The Argentina star broke the tie in Group J of the 2026 World Cup against Austria, scoring in the 39th minute after missing a penalty earlier in the match.
Just days earlier, Messi had equaled Klose’s mark with a hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 opening win over Algeria. That was his first World Cup hat-trick and the 11th hat-trick of his international career. After that game, Messi said, "It is an honor to be up there, because of what it means, alongside Klose and the Brazilian Ronaldo who is there too. But it does not really mean anything. Mbappe is there too, and he has scored twice. In the end, these are just statistics, nothing more."
Messi scored his first World Cup goal in June 2006, when he was 18, against Serbia and Montenegro. Two decades later, he remains the face of Argentina and continues to break records that once seemed unreachable. He also became the first player in history to appear in six different World Cup editions.
The goal against Austria also took Messi to 120 international goals for Argentina. Only Cristiano Ronaldo has more among men’s national team scorers, with 143 for Portugal. For Messi and Argentina, the individual milestone is part of a larger aim, securing a place in the knockout stage and continuing their title defense.
