Lionel Messi took about 20 minutes to score in the 2026 World Cup vs. Algeria, which made him overtake Cristiano Ronaldo in one key tournament stat, but he is still far away from reaching the Portuguese’s international goal record.
Per MisterChip, Messi became the third oldest player to score in a World Cup at 38 years and 357 days of age. Cristiano Ronaldo is now fourth on the list scoring at 37 years and 292 days. The two oldest are Roger Milla for Cameroon, scoring at 42 years and 39 days, and Pepe, who scored at 39 years and 283 days of age. Messi is delivering the goods as Argentina plays vs Algeria LIVE.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo is also featuring at this World Cup, which means that if he scores at any point, he will overtake Messi again, as Ronaldo is 41 years old right now. As for the international goals record, Ronaldo has scored 143 goals for Portugal, while Messi just reached 118 goals for Argentina.
Lionel Messi is close to becoming the all-time World Cup top scorer
Lionel Messi has just reached 14 goals in the World Cup scene, which puts him just two below all-time top scorer Miroslav Klose. However, he is not the only chasing that milestone, as France’s Kylian Mbappe became his country’s top scorer today, while still far away from Cristiano Ronaldo’s record as well. However, Mbappe also has 14 World Cup goals.
5 – Lionel Messi has scored five goals from outside the box in his FIFA World Cup career, equalling the most of any player since 1966 (Rivellino).
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 17, 2026
Range. pic.twitter.com/jvAXRlpAOi
This might be Lionel Messi’s last World Cup given his age, while Mbappe is just 27 years old. Hence, it’s more likely than not that Mbappe ends up with more World Cup goals than the Argentinian.
Messi had a disallowed goal prior to his outside-of-the-box score
In the first 10 minutes, Messi warned Algeria with his first goal of the game, though it was disallowed due to an inches-long offside that was only caught by the eye after the VAR intervened.
At 38 years old, Messi is as hungry as ever to deliver for his home country. Still at this age, the Argentinian ace is capable to leave defenders behind, make world-shocking goals, and produce jaw-dropping plays.
