It was only a matter of time before Lionel Messi broke Miroslav Klose’s World Cup goals record. The Argentine star had tied the record with his first-ever World Cup hat trick against Algeria. Against Austria, Messi missed a penalty, but bounced back to shatter the record entirely, scoring a brace to raise his goals total to 18 in World Cups. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo sits a couple of rows behind.
With his brace against Austria on Matchday 2 of the 2026 World Cup, Messi climbed to the top of the ranking with his 17th and 18th goal in World Cup history. Messi’s goal for Argentina against Austria puts him ahead of Klose. The Argentine legend is now on a pedestal of his own, with Mbappe as the main active player in pursuit. In fact, Mbappe is right on his tail, and the Frenchman could dethrone Messi in this very World Cup.
As for Ronaldo, the Portuguese star is more than halfway behind Messi in the FIFA World Cup’s all-time scoring chart. Cristiano has scored eight goals across six World Cup tournaments. Based on his poor start to the 2026 World Cup, during which he insisted the focus remains unchanged amid rumors surrounding Portugal, and the fact this will likely be his last World Cup, it’s hard to see “CR7” breaking—or even coming close to—Messi’s mark.
Every goal Messi scored in World Cups
Making his sixth appearance in a FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi continues to defy Father Time. His hat trick against Algeria took fans down memory lane as Messi looked like a player in his prime in Kansas City. Still, Messi’s prime is so difficult to define that one could argue any era of his career was his prime—or still is.
Messi and Ronaldo at the 2026 World Cup.
Not only did Messi’s hat trick break Cristiano Ronaldo’s record as the oldest player to score a hat trick in a World Cup, but it also shattered records across the tournament. No player had scored against more teams than Messi in World Cup history. For good measure, Messi added a new country, making it a 12-team list. Now, no player has scored more goals, either.
The full list of teams Messi has scored against in World Cups includes: Serbia and Montenegro (2006), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2014), Iran (2014), Nigeria (brace in 2014 and one goal in 2018), Saudi Arabia (2022), Mexico (2022), Australia (2022), Netherlands (2022), Croatia (2022), France (brace in 2022), Algeria (hat trick in 2026), and Austria (brace in 2026).
- Goal vs Serbia and Montenegro (2006)
- Goal vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (2014)
- Goal vs Iran (2014)
- Brace vs Nigeria (2014)
- Goal vs Nigeria (2018)
- Goal vs Saudi Arabia (2022)
- Goal vs Mexico (2022)
- Goal vs Australia (2022)
- Goal vs Netherlands (2022)
- Goal vs Croatia (2022)
- Brace vs France (2022)
- Hat trick vs Algeria (2026)
- Brace vs Austria (2026)
Active players who could dethrone Messi
Mbappe is the obvious candidate and favorite to become the all-time leading goalscorer sooner or later. However, there are other names to keep an eye on. Perhaps overlooked, Harry Kane is up to 10 World Cup goals and is the third-highest scorer among active players.
Erling Haaland and Lamine Yamal are other names to watch. In fact, Yamal has beaten Messi and Ronaldo by scoring his first World Cup goal at 18, so he could be well on his way to setting the record in the future.
