Lionel Messi now stands alone among the all-time greatest goalscorers at the FIFA World Cup.
Inter Miami CF's legendary No. 10 reached a tournament record 18 goals on Monday, scoring a brace as defending champions Argentina clinched a Round of 32 berth with a 2-0 victory over Austria.
Messi entered the match with 16 World Cup goals, level with former Germany striker Miroslav Klose following his first career World Cup hat trick in La Albiceleste's 3-0 opening win over Algeria.
Messi also passed Klose for the most wins in World Cup history (18) with Monday's knockout-round-clinching victory.
Lionel Messi's World Cup goals
At his joint-record sixth World Cup, Messi becomes the competition's all-time top goalscorer.
- June 16, 2006 vs. Serbia and Montenegro: 1 goal
- June 15, 2014 vs. Bosnia: 1 goal
- June 21, 2014 vs. Iran: 1 goal
- June 25, 2014 vs. Nigeria: 2 goals
- June 26, 2018 vs. Nigeria: 1 goal
- November 22, 2022 vs. Saudi Arabia: 1 goal
- November 26, 2022 vs. Mexico: 1 goal
- December 3, 2022 vs. Australia: 1 goal
- December 9, 2022 vs. Netherlands: 1 goal
- December 13, 2022 vs. Croatia: 1 goal
- December 18, 2022 vs. France: 2 goals
- June 16, 2026 vs. Algeria: 3 goals
- June 22, 2026 vs. Austria: 2 goals
Historic goals
Messi's history-making goals could have arrived earlier on Monday, but the back-to-back Landon Donovan MLS MVP missed a ninth-minute penalty kick.
He found redemption 29 minutes later, taking advantage of a clever dummy from former Atlanta United midfielder Thiago Almada to give Argentina the lead just before the halftime break.
Two days shy of his 39th birthday, Messi added to his record tally and secured the result in second-half stoppage time.
Messi currently leads the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot race with five tallies.
World Cup icon
Messi's record 18 goals are the latest World Cup milestone for the game's most decorated player of all time.
A champion with Argentina at Qatar 2022, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner is also the only two-time winner of the World Cup Golden Ball, given to the tournament's best overall player.
Additionally, Messi has scored in six straight World Cup games, equalling the record set by France's Just Fontaine (1958) and Brazil's Jairzinho (1970).
Messi now has 18g/8a in 28 World Cup appearances, tied with Diego Maradona for the most World Cup assists, as he looks to guide Argentina to the first back-to-back World Cup titles since Italy (1934, '38) and Brazil (1958, '62).
