Lionel Messi’s World Cup journey continues to be a story of records, triumphs and the occasional reminder that even the greatest can make mistakes.
Against Austria, the Argentina captain became the top scorer in FIFA World Cup history with 17 goals, moving past Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who previously held the record with 16. The goal was started and finished by Lionel Messi.
Ironically, the same match also saw Messi add another World Cup record. Excluding penalties, he now has the most penalties scored (7) and most penalties missed (3) in tournament history after seeing his spot-kick go past the keeper. It was a poor penalty.
Messi’s World Cup penalty record
Lost v Iceland (2018)
Scored against Saudi Arabia (2022)
Lost v Poland (2022)
Scored against Netherlands (2022)
Scored against Croatia (2022)
Scored against France (2022)
Lost v Austria (2026)
Most goals in FIFA World Cup history
17 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
16 – Miroslav Klose (Germany)
15 – Ronaldo (Brazil)
14 – Kylian Mbappé (France)
14 – Gerd Müller (Germany)
13 – Just Fontaine (France)
12 – Pele (Brazil)
