Lionel Messi Becomes All-Time Top Scorer in World Cup History

New York. In 2016, Lionel Messi retired from international football. He made this decision after the loss to Chile in the Copa America final.

In that match, Messi missed a penalty, and in nine years, Argentina had lost its fourth major final. He could not bear more pain than that.

At that time, he had said, 'My journey with the national team is over. I did everything I could. It hurts a lot not to be able to become a champion.'

No one could have imagined that 10 years later, two days before his 39th birthday, he would not only be playing for defending champions Argentina but would also become the all-time top scorer in the World Cup.

His decision to reverse his retirement brought a glorious era of success for both Messi and his country. They won the last two Copa Americas.

In 2022, captain Messi led Argentina to win the World Cup. Scoring seven goals in the tournament, including two in the final, he led the team to their third title and their first World Cup since 1986.

Exactly 40 years after Diego Maradona scored two goals in a 2-1 victory against England in the quarter-finals, on Monday, Messi rewrote football history by scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory against Austria. According to commentator Steve Bower, it was 'another immortal moment for Messi'.

'I love playing on the field and having fun,' Messi said. 'It's a joy for us to be able to make the fans happy like this and see them enjoying themselves.'

• 'We don't have time to build statues'

Missing a penalty in the eighth minute was not a good start, but about 30 minutes later, he erased it by scoring his 17th World Cup goal. With this ground-shot goal, he surpassed Miroslav Klose of Germany to set a record for the most goals in World Cup history.

His 18th goal was not far behind. In the injury time of the second half, he threaded the ball between two Austrian defenders from a difficult angle to score an excellent goal.

Spanish football journalist Guillem Balagué told BBC Radio 5 Live, 'We don't have time to build statues of Lionel Messi or analyze him deeply in the newspapers. We can't keep up with his pace.'

In 28 World Cup matches, he now has 18 goals. With Argentina having already secured a place in the last 32 and a match against Jordan still to play, it would be foolish to think he won't score more goals.

Messi, playing in his sixth World Cup, has scored 13 goals in the World Cup only after reversing his retirement from international football. Interestingly, 12 of the 18 goals he has scored in this football festival were after he turned 35. Of those 18, 14 were scored with his left foot, and four were from outside the penalty box.

Balagué added, 'He is enjoying the game, and that's the best thing. I have seen him play games in the World Cup where he couldn't last 90 minutes. But here, even at the end of the game, he was running like other players. Now he understands his body well. Messi doesn't need to run. He doesn't need high speed to dribble past defenders; he does it with his intelligence. I think we will see him in four more years.'

His statistics are getting better and better.

In this World Cup, all five of Argentina's goals are in his name, and he is two goals ahead of the player in second place in the top scorers list.

With the match against Austria, he became the third player to score in six consecutive World Cup matches. Previously, Just Fontaine of France in 1958 and Jairzinho of Brazil in 1970 had set such a record.

Messi converted both chances he got against Austria. Also, he has created the most chances (76 times) in World Cup history.

In the last six World Cup matches, he has directly contributed to 12 goals with 10 goals and 2 assists.

Former Wales defender Ashley Williams asked on BBC One, 'Are we watching the greatest player in football history? It's possible, and it's certainly a topic of debate. Perhaps we have just witnessed the game of the greatest player football has ever seen.'

Former England midfielder Danny Murphy agreed, saying, 'Lionel Messi always finds himself in a good position due to the free role he gets. There is no limit to his football intelligence; he easily finds space. The timing of the best player I have seen is amazing.'

Former France striker and 2018 World Cup winner Olivier Giroud added, 'He hasn't weakened physically. He has managed his healthy lifestyle well. He has to do that, otherwise, he can't play for so long. He is incredible. Being able to play game after game continuously is a blessing for him.'

But is Argentina too dependent on its captain?

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former England striker Chris Sutton said, 'Once again, Lionel Messi's magic worked for Argentina. It's not just his goals, but his contribution to the team. The way he connects the team, he is a small magician for big moments. For Lionel Scaloni, perhaps the only negative aspect is this. He certainly wants other players to score too. They can't always rely only on Messi. Can they?'

• 'After all, he is also human'

Messi breaks records even in failure.

Due to his goal-scoring ability, he always makes headlines, but this time some unwanted records were also set. When Argentina got a penalty, Lautaro Martinez was fouled, but Messi's shot went wide.

Messi said, 'There was a moment when I was very angry about missing the penalty, and I felt very bad. But fortunately, we were able to turn the situation around, take the lead, and get three points.'

He became the first player to miss a penalty in the 2026 World Cup. Also, excluding shootouts, he holds the record for the most penalties taken (seven) and the most penalties missed (three) in World Cup history.

He has failed to score in 6 out of 31 penalties taken for Argentina.

For Messi, who corrected his mistake by scoring two goals, this was the first competitive match for Argentina where he managed to score even after missing a penalty.

Murphy added, 'After all, Messi is also human; he is allowed to make a mistake or two.'

Perhaps it was destined that Messi's record-breaking goal should be in his own unique style.

Murphy joked, 'He might have missed the penalty deliberately. Perhaps the record-breaking goal was destined to be even more spectacular.'

South American football expert Tim Vickery added, 'The gods of football surely didn't want him to break the record with a penalty; they wanted him to break it with a goal from open play. Argentina has built the team around him, and I wish this celebration never ends.'

Even with so many records to his name, he still has some records left.

The record for the most assists in the World Cup could be his next target. Currently, Messi and Maradona have eight assists each.

When Messi takes the field against Jordan in the final group stage match, he will have the opportunity to set more new records in football history.