Argentina’s Lionel Messi (10), center, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal of his team during the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Austria in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
It’s been the Lionel Messi show so far at the 2026 World Cup.
Messi broke the tournament’s all-time goals scored record on Monday in Argentina’s win over Austria and then added to it late for good measure.
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Messi’s 17th goal across six World Cups came in the 38th minute on a beautiful one-touch finish with his left foot.
He then added an 18th goal just seconds before the game ended in an absurd sequence. His first shot was blocked and his second — somehow — found the net through a sea of Austrian defenders.
That goal broke a tie with Brazil‘s Marta for the most goals in both the men’s and women’s World Cups.
After a hat trick against Algeria to open this World Cup, Messi was tied with Germany‘s Miroslav Klose with 16 goals scored in the tournament. It was the first hat trick of Messi’s World Cup career and it gave Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni the opportunity to take Messi off early and give him some late-game rest.
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Messi played all 90 minutes on Monday as he found goals much harder to come by. He could have broken the goals record just minutes into the game, after a video review determined Lautaro Martínez had been fouled in Austria’s penalty area. However, Messi’s penalty kick went wide right.
It was a shocking miss — but Argentina fans may also consider it to be a good omen. As Argentina was on its way to the 2022 World Cup, Messi missed a penalty in the group stage against Poland.
Austria did its best to push forward against Argentina and didn’t let the Argentines dominate possession. However, good chances were hard to come by. Austria didn’t have its first chance on target until the second half was well underway when Marcel Sabitzer‘s free kick was saved by Emi Martinez.
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The win clinches a spot in the Round of 32 for Argentina and puts it in the driver’s seat for first place in Group J. Argentina is guaranteed to finish first if Algeria beats Jordan or the two teams tie. If Jordan beats Algeria on Monday evening, Argentina would simply need to tie Jordan to win the group.
If there is a tie or an Algeria win, expect there to be a lot of discussion about Messi’s role in that final group stage game. His five goals are currently the most of anyone at the tournament. Will he start and play just the first half or so, or will Scaloni give him a break ahead of the knockout rounds knowing Messi turns 39 on Wednesday?
