Lionel Messi has become the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history after netting his 17th career goal in the tournament. The article retraces every one of his World Cup goals, from his 2006 debut as a teenage phenomenon to the record-breaking strike at age 39, showing how he turned a long international career into a historic scoring run.
Messi first scored at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, when he came off the bench against Serbia and Montenegro and both assisted and scored in Argentina’s 3-0 win. After a disappointing 2010 tournament, he exploded in 2014 with goals against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran and Nigeria, including a free kick, a left-footed finish after a one-two with Gonzalo Higuain, a long-range strike against Iran, and a composed first-time finish and curling free kick against Nigeria. In 2018, he scored only once, a decisive goal against Nigeria that sent Argentina through before they lost to eventual champions France in the round of 16.
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Messi scored in the opening loss to Saudi Arabia, then reacted to pressure with a low left-footed goal against Mexico, his first knockout-stage goal against Australia, a penalty against the Netherlands, another penalty in the semifinal against Croatia, and two more in the final against France, including a rebound after Kylian Mbappé’s equalizer. The piece notes that some penalty-shootout goals are not counted in the official total.
The latest chapter comes with Argentina defending its title in the United States. Against Algeria in Kansas, Messi scored from outside the box after an earlier goal was ruled out, then added another goal after a rebound, and finally completed his first World Cup hat trick with a low finish from outside the area. He then reached the record in the next match against Austria, missing a penalty after Lautaro Martínez was fouled, before correcting the miss 20 minutes later with the goal that made him the sole top scorer in World Cup history.
