Not so fast, Kylian Mbappé.
The French soccer star scored his 13th and 14th career World Cup goals during France‘s 3-1 win over Senegal on Tuesday, moving him past Argentina star Lionel Messi into third place all time on the World Cup goals list.
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But just hours later, Messi reclaimed his spot ahead of Mbappé, scoring a hat trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria to move into a tie for first place with his 16th career World Cup goal.
Messi got the scoring started in Kansas City with an 18th-minute goal Tuesday night to give Argentina an early 1-0 lead over Algeria and join Mbappé with his 14th career World Cup goal.
The goal moved Messi into a tie with Mbappé and Germany‘s Gerd Müller for third place on the all-time list. The only two players ahead of them were Brazil’s Ronaldo Nazário (15) and Germany’s Miroslav Klose (16).
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But Messi wasn’t done.
Messi added another goal in the second half off a rebound to extend Argentina’s lead to 2-0 in the 60th minute.
Then in the 77th minute, Messi did it again. A strike from the top of the box extended Argentina’s lead to 3-0 and secured Messi’s first career World Cup hat trick.
The hat trick moved him into a tie with Klose for the most career World Cup goals with 16. And with that, Messi’s night was done.
He was subbed out to a standing ovation, and the chance to claim the record as his own will have to wait.
Argentina held on for a 3-0 win in its first game as reigning World Cup champions.
Mbappé brace leads France past Senegal
Mbappé entered Tuesday’s opener tied with Pelé with 12 career World Cup goals. Mbappé moved past the Brazil great in the 66th minute with the first goal of the match, equaling fellow countryman Just Fontaine and Messi.
Moments after Senegal cut the France lead to 2-1 in stoppage time, Mbappé fired a long-range shot past goalkeeper Édouard Mendy to reinstate the two-goal lead and not only move ahead of Fontaine and Messi, but also break the deadlock with Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time top scorer with his 58th international goal.
Mbappé needed just 15 World Cup matches to reach 14 goals, while Messi has scored 16 times in his 27 games in the tournament. Klose netted his 16 goals in 24 matches over four World Cups.
