Lionel Messi has just deepened his World Cup legend. He led Argentina to a 2-0 win over Austria in Dallas, sealing a place in the 2026 knockout stages. The 38-year-old missed an early penalty after VAR gave a spot kick for a foul on Lautaro Martínez, but bounced back in classic style.
Messi opened the scoring from Facundo Medina’s low cross, taking his World Cup goals to 17 and passing Miroslav Klose as the tournament’s all-time top scorer. He added a second deep into stoppage time, bringing his tally to five goals in two group games after the hat-trick against Algeria.
Guinness World Records confirmed more milestones, posting on X:
“All the records broken by Lionel Messi today:
“Most FIFA World Cup finals goals by a football (soccer) player – 18 Most FIFA World Cup matches played in by an individual – 28 Most matches won by a player at the football (soccer) FIFA World Cup – 18 Most minutes played in the football (soccer) FIFA World Cup – 2,489
“We are witnessing history.”
Those sit on top of records he earned in 2022: most Man of the Match awards at the World Cup (11), most World Cup appearances as captain (19), and appearances in five different World Cups. The assist-in-five-tournaments record remains open; he has no assists yet in 2026.
On BBC iPlayer pundits gossiped and gushed. Ashley Williams: “Are we looking at the greatest player ever? It’s possible and definitely worth the debate. We might have just witnessed the greatest player that football has ever seen.” Danny Murphy praised his positioning: “…His football intelligence is off the charts…” Olivier Giroud: “He is not suffering physically… He’s unbelievable.” Chris Sutton warned Argentina lean on him too much.
Messi has scored all five of Argentina’s goals here, leads the scoring charts, has been involved in 12 goals across his last six World Cups, and is one of three to score in six straight World Cup games. He also leads the tournament in chances created (76). But he hit an unwanted mark—three missed World Cup penalties (Iceland 2018, Poland 2022, Austria 2026). Still, he remains central to Argentina’s title push.
