Lionel Messi became the FIFA World Cup's all-time leading scorer on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, after netting his 17th and 18th tournament goals in Argentina's 2-0 victory over Austria at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
Messi's historic goals
Messi made history in the 38th minute when he scored his 17th career World Cup goal, moving past former Germany striker Miroslav Klose to become the tournament's sole all-time leading scorer. The landmark moment came from a flowing team buildup: Facundo Medina cut a low cross into the box, and Thiago Almada let the ball run through him, allowing Messi to clinically sweep a first-time, left-footed finish past Austrian keeper Alexander Schlager.
Deep into stoppage time, in the 95th minute, Messi added his second goal of the match. After Julian Alvarez saw his initial shot blocked, Messi pounced on the rebound and threaded the ball through a crowd of defenders to seal Argentina's win and push his new World Cup record to 18 goals.
Match dominance
Argentina's dominance was reflected in the statistics. The team generated 2.54 expected goals (xG) compared to Austria's 0.45 xG. Argentina forced four attempts on target, with Messi converting two, while limiting Austria to just a single shot on frame the entire match. Argentina held 50 percent possession to Austria's 43 percent, completing 504 passes to keep the Austrians chasing.
Messi's brace marked his fourth and fifth goals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following his hat trick in Argentina's 3-0 victory over Algeria the previous week. With the victory, the defending champions secured their place in the Round of 32.
Other notable performances
Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland also continued their scintillating form, helping France and Norway secure places in the knockout stage. Mbappe scored twice in France's 3-0 win over Iraq, drawing level with Klose on 16 career World Cup goals. Norway edged Senegal 3-2 behind another standout performance from Haaland, who scored twice after Marcus Pedersen gave Norway an early lead.
