Lionel Messi has written a new chapter of football history at 38 years and 363 days old.
The Argentine star is now the all-time leading goalscorer at the FIFA men’s World Cup, breaking Miroslav Klose’s 12-year record by scoring his 17th goal on Monday (22 June).
Messi followed that with his 18th goal to seal a 2-0 victory against Austria and take his 2026 tournament tally to five.
He now holds the outright scoring record, as well as extending the record for most FIFA World Cup appearances in his 28th match.
The Olympic gold medallist’s first attempt at the record came in the ninth minute when teammate Lautaro Martínez won a penalty. But the 38-year-old, stuttering in his run-up, put the spot-kick wide of the bottom-right corner to deathly silence at the Dallas Stadium.
His teammates looked steadfast on bringing their leader the record goal, and in the 38th minute, Messi found space on the edge of the box and stroked his shot first time into the bottom-left corner.
With Argentina unable to seal the deal, their captain pushed through the Austrian backline inside the box, had his shot blocked before slotting home the rebound to cap off a famous day in Dallas.
An Olympic champion at Beijing 2008, an eight-time Ballon D’Or winner as well as FIFA World Cup victor in 2022, Messi is now the greatest men’s World Cup goalscorer of all time.
Although the Argentina captain holds the record for now, it could yet be broken at this tournament by Kylian Mbappé. The French skipper and 2018 World Cup winner is on 14 goals and plays later on Monday against Iraq in Philadelphia.
Whatever happens in North America, Messi is the first male player to reach 18 goals at the global football tournament. He also surpasses Marta’s mark (17) to become the greatest World Cup goalscorer, male or female.