Messi makes history: Argentina captain becomes the all-time men's World Cup top scorer

Lionel Messi has done it again. The Argentina captain became the all-time leading goalscorer in men's World Cup history on Monday night in Dallas, burying his 17th goal at the finals to move clear of Germany's Miroslav Klose, who had held the record on 16.

The moment came in the 38th minute of Argentina's Group J meeting with Austria. Messi received a low pass at the top of the box and finished into the corner, a goal that carried the weight of history. It was his fourth strike of the 2026 tournament and the one that wrote his name into the record books above every great who has graced the competition.

It very nearly did not happen so smoothly. Messi had missed a penalty in the opening exchanges, the spot kick awarded by VAR for a foul on Lautaro Martinez, and for a while it looked as though the record might have to wait. The miss only made the eventual moment sweeter. When the goal arrived, it put Argentina in front and sent a familiar roar around the stadium.

The strike continues a remarkable individual tournament for Messi, who opened his campaign with a hat-trick against Algeria that had already drawn him level with Klose. Now he stands alone. For a player whose World Cup story once seemed destined to end in heartbreak before the triumph of the last edition, this is another chapter few would have dared script.

And he was not finished. Deep into second-half stoppage time Messi reacted quickest to a loose ball and fired the rebound through two defenders for his second of the night, his 18th World Cup goal, to seal a 2-0 win that sends Argentina through to the Round of 32 and puts them on the brink of topping Group J.

The record is the headline, but the manner of it was pure Messi: a clinical first-half opener after a flowing move, and then a stoppage-time second to seal the points and the milestone in the same breath. Even a missed penalty earlier in the game could not deny him his moment, and the celebrations that followed reflected what it meant.

For Argentina, the win and the history are intertwined. Progress to the knockout rounds was secured, top spot in the group brought within reach, and their greatest player handed another reason to believe this tournament could end in glory. A side built around a talisman in this form is a daunting prospect for any opponent.

Few players get to script their own legend so precisely, and fewer still on the sport biggest stage. Messi has made a habit of it, and on this night he added another chapter that will be retold for decades.

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Argentina, already among the favourites to go deep into the knockout rounds, will take enormous belief from seeing their talisman in this kind of form at exactly the right time. For the rest of the tournament's drama, follow every fixture and result through the World Cup hub and the latest football news.