Argentina faces Austria as Messi aims to break World Cup goals record

Lionel Messi has spent two decades collecting records the way most people collect streaming subscriptions: casually, constantly, and with an air of inevitability. Now he’s one goal away from the biggest one left on his list.

Argentina’s captain enters the Group J match against Austria on June 22 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose at 16 World Cup goals. One more, and the all-time record belongs to him alone.

The hat-trick that changed the math

Messi’s path to this moment accelerated dramatically in Argentina’s tournament opener against Algeria. He scored a hat-trick, his first ever in World Cup play, vaulting from 13 career World Cup goals to 16 in a single match.

That performance drew him level with Klose, whose record of 16 goals had stood since the 2014 tournament in Brazil. For context, Klose needed four World Cups across 12 years to build that tally. Messi has now matched it across five tournaments spanning two full decades.

The breakdown of his World Cup scoring tells its own story. He netted once in 2006 as a teenager, four times during Argentina’s run to the final in 2014, once in 2018’s group stage, seven during the triumphant 2022 campaign in Qatar, and now three in 2026.

What Austria represents

There’s another record in play that has received less attention. Messi has now scored in five consecutive World Cup matches. One more game with a goal would equal the all-time mark for consecutive World Cup matches with at least one score. So the Austria fixture isn’t just about one milestone. It’s potentially a two-for-one deal.

At 38 years old, the widespread assumption is that this will be Messi’s final World Cup. The 2030 tournament would require him to compete at age 42.

Why this matters beyond the pitch

World Cup goal records occupy a unique space in football history. Unlike club records, which accumulate over hundreds of domestic and continental matches, World Cup goals are incredibly scarce. Players get, at most, seven games every four years to add to their tally.

Klose scored 16 goals across four tournaments from 2002 to 2014, overtaking Ronaldo (the Brazilian one) in the process. For Messi to match and potentially surpass that total adds another layer to the eternal debate about where he ranks among the all-time greats.

The match kicks off June 22.

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