World Cup: Messi Sets All-Time Scoring Record

Is this a timeless achievement or just a placeholder for Mbappé's inevitable reign?

JUN 22·Updated JUN 24

World Cup: Messi Sets All-Time Scoring Record

Story

Above: Lionel Messi celebrates his goal against Austria at Dallas Stadium, Arlington, on June 22. Image credit: Tullio Puglia/FIFA/Getty Images

The Facts

Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi netted a brace in his national team's 2-0 win over Austria at Dallas Stadium on Monday, becoming the World Cup's leading goal scorer with 18 goals, less than a week after scoring a hat-trick against Algeria to level Germany's Miroslav Klose.
FIFA
Reuters
With the result, Argentina clinched a spot in the Round of 32 and can win Group J with a game to spare if Jordan fails to defeat Algeria later on Monday. Messi, who will turn 39 on Wednesday, scored his first goal in the 38th minute — half an hour after missing a penalty kick — and his second at the end of the second half.
Buenos Aires Times
USA Today
The Associated Press
Messi further became the player with the most World Cup matches played and won, the third player to ever score in six consecutive matches, matching France's Just Fontaine in 1958 and Brazil's Jairzinho in 1970, and the player who has both taken and missed the most penalties in World Cup history.
BBC News
FOX Sports
Guinness World Records on X
Opta Analyst on X
He also set a new outright benchmark for combined men's and women's World Cup scoring, surpassing Brazil's Marta with 17 goals in the Women's World Cup.
FOX Sports
Reuters
USA Today
Messi scored his first World Cup goal against Serbia and Montenegro at age 18 in 2006. After failing to score in 2010, he netted four goals in 2014 and one in 2018. His best performance in the tournament came in 2022 with seven goals, including two in the final against France.
beIN SPORTS
GB News
NBC
France's Kylian Mbappé scored his 15th and 16th World Cup goals against Iraq a few hours later on Monday, surpassing former Brazil star Ronaldo and matching Klose. England's Harry Kane is the third man with at least 10 World Cup goals playing this year in North America.
FIFA
FOX Sports
The New York Times

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

Messi's record-breaking performance at age 38 was a coronation. He has silenced any remaining GOAT debate while carrying Argentina to another World Cup knockout round. While others peak and fade, he keeps rewriting what's possible calmly and inevitably, as if history itself were just another defender to leave behind.

ESPN

New York Daily News

Narrative B

Messi's achievement is remarkable but may not last long. Mbappé, at 27 with 16 goals in just 16 matches, boasts a superior scoring rate and has time on his side. Meanwhile, the true untouchable record in World Cup history remains that of Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals in a single tournament in 1958.