Key Points
- Lionel Messi scored twice as Argentina beat Austria 2-0 at AT&T Stadium on June 22.
- His 38th-minute goal broke Miroslav Klose's all-time men's World Cup record of 16.
- A stoppage-time second in the 90'+5' extended his new record to 18.
- It was his sixth straight World Cup match with a goal, across six tournaments spanning 20 years.
Lionel Messi did not just break the record. He padded it. Two goals against Austria on June 22 lifted the Argentina captain to 18 career World Cup goals — two clear of Miroslav Klose — as the defending champions rolled to a 2-0 win at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
The record-breaker
Messi missed a penalty in the ninth minute, his left-footed effort sliding wide of the right post. Twenty-nine minutes later he curled a shot from 18 yards with his left foot, low to the far corner, to put Argentina ahead in the 38th — his 17th World Cup goal, one more than Klose had managed across four tournaments from 2002 to 2014. It was the sixth consecutive World Cup match in which he has scored, and it came two days before his 39th birthday in what he has said will be his final tournament.
The insurance
Deep in stoppage time, Julián Álvarez broke through and forced a save from Austria goalkeeper Schlager. The rebound fell to Messi, whose first follow-up was blocked; he drove the second attempt into the center of the goal in the 95th minute to make it 2-0 and extend his record to 18. "It's an honor being up there for what it means, being alongside Klose and Ronaldo," Messi said afterward. "But it doesn't mean anything."
The ledger
Eighteen goals across six World Cups spanning two decades, from Germany 2006 to USA-Mexico-Canada 2026. No other man has appeared in six editions of the tournament, let alone scored in six consecutive matches across two of them. The brace extends the run that had already made him the headline of the tournament's Golden Boot race. For a player whose résumé wanted for nothing, the one record that had eluded him is now his by a margin.
Source: ESPN, CBS Sports
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