LIONEL Messi became the Fifa World Cup’s all-time leading scorer on Tuesday, June 23, 2026 (PH time), after netting his 17th and 18th tournament goals in Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Austria at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
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, keeping Les Bleus on course for a third World Cup title. The brace also saw the French captain draw level with former Germany striker Miroslav Klose on 16 career World Cup goals.
Norway, meanwhile, edged Senegal, 3-2, behind another standout performance from Haaland. The prolific striker scored twice after Marcus Pedersen gave Norway an early lead.
Messi’s latest feat added another chapter to his remarkable World Cup legacy.
Making his record-extending 28th World Cup appearance across a sixth tournament, Messi rebounded from a missed penalty in the ninth minute by breaking the deadlock before halftime and adding another goal deep into stoppage time to secure the victory.
The final tally reflected Argentina’s dominance of the match. Led by Messi’s efficiency, Argentina generated 2.54 expected goals (xG) compared to Austria’s 0.45 xG, proving that the Argentine defense completely smothered the Austrian attack.
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 frame the entire match.
Messi made history in the 38th minute when he scored his 17th career World Cup goal, moving past Klose to become the tournament’s sole all-time leading scorer.
The landmark moment was born 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.
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 seven 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
