Lionel Messi scores late in the first half against Austria to become the all-time leader in goals in the World Cup with 17 goals total passing Germany's great Miroslav Klose. Messi had missed on a penalty kick earlier in the half and it was fitting that he would break the record on a regular goal and not a penalty kick.

Lionel Messi scored both goals in Argentina's 2-0 win over Austria today...amazing...he now has 18 goals in World Cup play.

June 22 scores:

France 3 Iraq 0
Norway 3 Senegal 2
Algeria 2 Jordan 1
Argentina 2 Austria 0

It could be a short-lived record as Mbappe is only a few goals behind Messi.

Mbappé is currently 2 goals behind Messi. Messi has scored 5 goals in the 2026 World Cup so far and Mbappé has scored 4. So, yes, he could catch or even surpass Messi this year. It's exciting to watch these two play! Mbappé only 27 years old and Messi is 39 it's highly likely that will be the all-time goal scoring leader at some point in his career...maybe even before this World Cup is over.

The top all-time goal scorers in Men's FIFA World Cup history are:

Lionel Messi (Argentina) 18 Goals
Kylian Mbappé (France) 16 Goals
Miroslav Klose (Germany) 16 Goals
Ronaldo (Brazil) 15 Goals
Gerd Müller (Germany) 14 Goals
Just Fontaine (France) 13 Goals
Pelé (Brazil) 12 Goals
Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) 11 Goals
Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany) 11 Goals

June 23 scores:

Protugal 5 Uzbekistan 0
England 0 Ghana 0
Croatia 1 Panama 0
Columbia 1 DR Congo 0