LIONEL Messi became the FIFA World Cup’s all-time leading scorer Tuesday, June 23, 2026 (Philippine time), netting his 17th and 18th tournament goals in Argentina’s dominant 2-0 victory over Austria at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
The match added to a growing list of World Cup milestones for the Argentina captain.
Making his record-extending 28th World Cup appearance across a sixth tournament, Messi responded to missing an early 9th-minute penalty by breaking the deadlock before halftime and adding another late in stoppage time to secure the victory.
The 2-0 scoreline mirrored Argentina’s tactical control, a dominance backed heavily by the match's full-time statistics. Led by Messi’s efficiency, Argentina generated a commanding 2.54 expected goals (xG) compared to Austria’s 0.45 xG, proving that the Argentine defense completely smothered the Austrian attack.
Argentina doubled Austria's total shooting output with 12 attempts at goal to six.
More importantly, Argentina was lethal when it mattered, forcing four attempts on target, two of which Messi converted, while limiting Austria to just a single shot on target the entire match.
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 was born from a flowing team buildup; after Facundo Medina cut a low cross into the box, Thiago Almada let the ball run by him, allowing Messi to clinically sweep a first-time, left-footed finish past Austrian keeper Alexander Schlager.
Austria attempted to disrupt Argentina's rhythm with a rapid defensive press, averaging a quick 19 seconds in ball recovery time compared to Argentina's 21 seconds.
Austria also managed to win three corners to Argentina's one, but lacked the creative spark to pose a real threat whenever it won the ball back.
Instead, Argentina controlled the tempo through possession, holding 50 percent of the ball compared to Austria's 43 percent, with 7 percent in contest.
The team strung together 504 completed passes to keep the Austrians chasing.
The relentless pressure culminated deep into stoppage time.
In the 95th minute, Argentina caught Austria on a rapid counter-attack.
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 newly minted World Cup record to 18 goals.
The clinical brace marked Messi's fourth and fifth goals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following his hat trick in Argentina's 3-0 victory over Algeria last week.
With the victory, the defending champions officially secured their place in the Round of 32. (JGS/SunStar Philippines)