Historic: Messi Breaks World Cup Goals Record with a Left-footed Shot Against Austria
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
Lionel Messi has climbed to the top of the scoring leaderboard in World Cup history. In his sixth World Cup, the Argentine star scored in the 38th minute of the match against Austria, held on Monday at the Dallas Stadium for Group J, bringing his total to 17 goals since debuting in the tournament in 2006. With this goal, Messi surpassed German Miroslav Klose (16), who held the record since the 2014 World Cup. Following them are Brazilian Ronaldo (15), German Gerd Muller, and Frenchman Kylian Mbappé (14). Assisted by defender Facundo Medina, Messi struck on the run from the edge of the box to beat Austrian goalkeeper Alexander Schlager. It didn't seem like it would be the day to break the record; Messi missed a penalty in the ninth minute, awarded for a foul by Stefan Posch on striker Lautaro Martínez. This was the third penalty he has missed out of seven attempts in World Cups: he squandered another against Iceland in 2018 and against Poland in 2022, both in the group stage. Approaching 39 years old, Messi had equaled Klose with a hat trick in the 3-0 victory against Algeria in the opener. The 'Flea' made his World Cup debut at 18, scoring one in the 6-0 rout against Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, which was his absolute debut in the competition. He redeemed himself from the goal drought in South Africa 2010 with four goals in the group stage of Brazil 2014. In Russia 2018, he would celebrate one in the same stage. His best scoring performance came in Qatar 2022, with seven goals leading the Albiceleste to their third star. It was the first tournament in which Messi scored in the knockout stage, including a brace in the final against France. The Argentine captain is also the player with the most matches played in World Cup history (28) and could set a new wins record—along with Klose, they each have 17—if Argentina defeats Austria. With the goal against Austria, Messi increased his tally to 121 goals as the all-time top scorer for the Argentine national team in 201 matches.
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
