Read for 2 minutes22 Jun 2026 11:17 PM IST
Lionel Messi broke another record against Austria on Monday when he eclipsed German icon Miroslav Klose to become the all-time top goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history with a 38th-minute strike. In the last match against Algeria, Messi scored a hat-trick to equal Klose with 16 goals. On Monday, he overtook the German and now has 17 World Cup strikes.
Last week, exactly 20 years since his World Cup debut, where he became Argentina’s youngest-ever World Cup scorer, Messi dazzled in his 200th international appearance, sparking a fiery start for the reigning world champions.
Messi’s first goal came in the 17th minute, beating a shot from the left past Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane (son of French legend Zinedine Zidane) from open play outside the box. The second goal came in a canter, after a team-mate took a shot on goal, Zidane couldn’t collect it and sent it back into play where Messi was there to tap in to seal the goal.
Messi scored a record hat-trick in the 76th minute, where he finished off some good clinical play from his teammates. Messi received a standing ovation just one minute after completing the first hat-trick in World Cup history.
Messi, 38, overtook his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo to become the oldest player to score a hat-trick at the World Cup. Ronaldo achieved this feat in 2018 at the age of 33. Messi also scored his 11th hat-trick in an Argentina shirt, overhauling Ronaldo’s tally of 10 for the most hat-tricks in men’s international football.