WATCH: Messi scores against Austria to break the record for most goals at the World Cup

Lionel Messi scored against Austria on Monday in Argentina’s FIFA World Cup Group J match in Dallas, breaking the record for most goals at the World Cup.

The 38-year-old passed German Miroslav Klose, who scored 16 goals and last played at the 2014 World Cup.

The goal’s significance was heightened after Messi botched a penalty and fired it wide in the ninth minute, which fell to Argentina after Lautaro Martinez had made a mistake.

Messi had scored one goal in the 2006 edition, his first World Cup bow, before going goalless in South Africa four years later. He then added four goals in 2014, one in 2018 and seven in 2022 as Argentina won the title.

Published on June 22, 2026