Lionel Messi became the highest goal scorer in World Cup history Monday, moving up to 18 with a superb double in Argentina’s Group J match against Austria and breaking a tie with Germany legend Miroslav Klose.

The football world witnessed history yesterday with the records broken by Lionel Messi which are: Most FIFA World Cup finals goals by a football (soccer) player – 18; Most FIFA World Cup matches played in by an individual – 28; Most matches won by a player at the football (soccer) FIFA World Cup – 18; and Most minutes played in the football (soccer) FIFA World Cup – 2,489.

Messi entered the day on 16 goals following a hat trick in Argentina’s opener, and missed a penalty early on against Austria which briefly denied him the outright record. But Messi curled home from a cutback in the 38th minute and then added a late second in the 2-0 win in Dallas, which secures defending champion Argentina’s place in the knockouts.

The Argentina captain has now scored in six consecutive World Cup games since 2022 and his 18th goal all-time also moves him clear of women’s World Cup top scorer Marta, who has 17.

Messi had tied Klose’s record by scoring a hat trick during Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria to kick off the 2026 World Cup on June 16. The hat trick stands as the 11th of Messi’s international career, but first at a World Cup.

“It’s an honor being up there for what it means, being alongside Klose and [Brazil’s] Ronaldo, who is there also. But it doesn’t mean anything,” Messi said of the record on June 16. “[Kylian] Mbappé is there, too, he scored twice [on Tuesday]. At the end of the day, they are stats and nothing more.”

Messi scored his first World Cup goal on June 16, 2006, at 18 years old, netting a second-half strike against Serbia and Montenegro.

Twenty years later, he continues to break records by leading in goal count and becoming the first player to feature in six different editions of a men’s World Cup.

The goals put Messi up to 121 international goals for Argentina, trailing only Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 143.

Argentina’s triumph on Monday afternoon propelled Messi to lead in most men’s World Cup victories as well.