Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria took them through to the round of 32 and all but confirmed them as the winners of Group J.
World Cup 2026 has so far been a breeze for the defending world champions, whose five unanswered goals against Algeria and Austria were all scored by captain and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi.
Eight Ballon d’Or triumphs is a record, of course, and it’s just one of the very many to which Messi’s name is attached. Just before his 39th birthday, the Inter Miami man added a couple of beauties to the list.
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Record World Cup goalscorer
Most noteworthy among the avalanche of records broken by Messi in his career is the one he absolutely demolished in the space of two World Cup 2026 matches.
At the start of the tournament, Messi had scored 13 World Cup goals – three fewer than the World Cup’s record goalscorer, Miroslav Klose.
He was level with the former Germany striker by the end of the opening game against Algeria. Despite missing a penalty, he was ahead with 17 goals by half time in the win over Austria. He added number 18 four minutes into stoppage time at the end of the game.
Klose, Ronaldo and Gerd Muller are all retired but France striker Kylian Mbappe moved to within three goals of Messi almost immediately. We’re so sure his tally will grow very soon that we’re not going to put a number on it.
For now, Messi rules the roost.
Most World Cup matches won
The Argentina skipper shares the record for the most World Cups with Cristiano Ronaldo. Both played at their first World Cup in Germany in 2006 and have featured in every tournament since.
But it’s Messi who has played in the most World Cup matches (28) ahead of Lothar Matthaus (25), Klose (24) and Paolo Maldini and Cristiano Ronaldo (23), and he has the most minutes to boot.
Remarkably, Messi started tonight’s game against Austria level with Klose for the number of World Cup matches they’d won too. The Argentina captain’s record-breaking goals also took him to 18 wins, one clear of Klose’s 17.
Cafu of Brazil is third on the list with 16 wins. Five players – Wolfgang Overath (West Germany), Ronaldo (Brazil), Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Matthaus (all Germany) have won 15 games.
Of those, only Matthaus has a lower run-rate than Messi in terms of World Cup matches won. Mbappe has a better goals-per-match record than Messi along with Harry Kane, Enner Valencia, Cody Gakpo and James Rodriguez.
Technicalities. The World Cup-winning, multiple record-holding Argentinian skipper probably doesn’t mind.
