Messi makes World Cup history with record 17th goal

Argentina skipper Lionel Messi has become the highest goalscorer in the history of FIFA World Cup having scored his 17th goal in the ongoing World Cup clash between Argentina and Austria.

The 38-year-old achieved this feat in the 38th minute, breaking the previous record set by Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who was the highest goalscorer in World Cup tournaments with 16 goals.

He became joint-record holder when he scored a hat-trick in Argentina’s first match of 2026 FIFA World Cup against Algeria. Now, he is an outright record holder as he has scored more World Cup goals than any other player.

The historic goal was typical of what is expected of Lionel Messi and saw him curl a wonderful shot from just outside the box to give Argentina a lead against Austria.

In earlier stages of the match, Messi got an opportunity to surpass the record from the spot-kick but wasted it after hitting the ball wide off target from a foul played on him by Lautaro Martínez.

Kylian Mbappé is perhaps one of the few active players who can give a tough competition to Messi for the new record with 14 World Cup goals so far. However, most other players listed in the top scorers’ list have retired or died.

The new record is part of the incredible career Messi has had which is crowned with many league, continental and World Cup successes and also with eight Ballon d’Or awards.