Lionel Messi broke the World Cup top scorer record on Monday, after scoring his 17th and 18th goals in the tournament’s history for Argentina in their Group J match against Austria.
The Argentina captain had already scored three with his first-ever World Cup hat-trick in a 3-0 win against Algeria, and the Inter Miami forward continued his fine form in a 2-0 victory over Austria.
First, Messi stroked a tidy finish into the bottom corner in the 39th minute, after teammate Thiago Almada cleverly left a cutback from Facundo Medina.
The goal actually came after Messi missed a penalty inside the first 10 minutes, before two other misses from decent chances.
Then, five minutes into extra time in the second half, Messi drove home a low finish from close range after his initial effort was blocked. His own shots followed a thwarted effort by Julian Alvarez, as Argentina looked to end a breakaway move with a goal.
Entering the contest in a tie with Germany’s Miroslav Klose (16), Messi has moved two clear in just the latest historic mark left on the game.
The record had stood for 12 years since Klose’s last goal at World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Messi took 28 games, the most appearances in World Cup history, to reach 17 and 18 goals, and also took three more appearances to draw level with Klose’s final tally.
The record is unlikely to last as long, though, with France captain Kylian Mbappe, still just 27 years of age, only four behind Messi on 14 goals, having broken the French all-time top scorer record with a brace against Senegal in this tournament.
While England’s Harry Kane already has 12 World Cup goals, after a double in the 4-2 win over Croatia, which matched Gary Lineker’s England World Cup record and positioned himself to rise yet further up the rankings with Thomas Tuchel’s side starting to produce free-flowing attacking football that could help him replicate his Bayern Munich exploits.
Messi, who turns 39 this week, is attempting to guide Argentina to a fourth crown and back-to-back titles after their triumph in Qatar. Argentina face Jordan in their final group stage match on Saturday 27 June.
