Some records seem impossible to break, but if anyone has proven that barriers are meant to be broken, it’s Lionel Messi.
Argentina’s captain once again etched his name in gold in the history of the FIFA World Cup™ by becoming the tournament’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing the record that had belonged to Germany’s Miroslav Klose for years.
Messi reached 18 World Cup goals thanks to a spectacular start at the 2026 FIFA World Cup™, where he scored the first hat trick of his World Cup career during Argentina’s victory over Algeria and later added two more goals against Austria.
With that, the Argentine star surpassed Klose’s 16 goals and cemented his status as the all-time leading scorer in soccer’s premier tournament.
Messi’s World Cup Scoring Journey
Messi’s World Cup story began at Germany 2006, when he scored his first goal as a young talent who promised to change the history of soccer.
Twenty years later, the Rosario native has tallied:
- 2006: 1 goal
- 2010: 0 goals
- 2014: 4 goals
- 2018: 1 goal
- 2022: 7 goals
- 2026: 5 goals so far
In total, he has scored 18 goals in 28 matches, a total that places him alone at the top of the all-time scoring list.
Here are the top 10 all-time World Cup scorers
- Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 18 goals
- Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 16 goals
- Kylian Mbappé (France) – 16 goals
- Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15 goals
- Gerd Müller (West Germany) – 14 goals
- Just Fontaine (France) – 13 goals
- Pelé (Brazil) – 12 goals
- Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany) – 11 goals
- Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 11 goals
- Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) – 10 goals
Other legendary players who have also scored 10 goals include Teófilo Cubillas, Harry Kane, Grzegorz Lato, Gary Lineker, Thomas Müller, and Helmut Rahn.
Messi Continues to Build His Legacy
At 38, Messi continues to defy the passage of time and build upon a legacy that once seemed impossible to surpass.
World Champion at Qatar 2022, Argentina’s all-time assist leader, and now the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history, the Argentine continues to rack up achievements that place him among the greatest athletes of all time.
And the story isn’t over yet.
Because as long as Argentina continues to advance in the 2026 FIFA World Cup™, Messi will have the opportunity to add to a record that already looks monumental—and one that could take decades to match.
