Lionel Messi has broken the record for the highest number of goals in the history of the FIFA World Cup after scoring his team’s opening goal in their Group J match against Austria, taking his tally to 18 goals in six tournaments.
The Argentinian captain reached the top of the charts on Monday when he swept home after 38 minutes in his team’s second group game, to deafening roars at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas in the United States.
He added another deep into stoppage time to become the leading scorer in both men’s and women’s FIFA World Cups, surpassing Brazilian great Marta, who has 17 goals in FIFA Women’s World Cups.
Messi had equalled Miroslav Klose’s all-time mark of 16 World Cup goals by hitting a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria to open the South American nation’s title defence in North America last week.
The 38-year-old had missed a penalty earlier in the game.
Messi is playing at his sixth World Cup, his first coming in 2006, and he now has 121 goals in 201 games for his country.
He is the third player to score in six successive World Cups for his country.
His enduring quality augurs well for Argentina’s hopes of becoming the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cup titles.
Messi was tearful after his first goal against Algeria, and it later emerged that his father is recovering from an unspecified health issue.
Despite his personal travails and a troubled build-up because of a hamstring niggle, Messi’s mere presence inspires his teammates.
“If anyone thought this group was better off without Leo, today it became clear that Leo is the most important of them all,” said midfielder Alexis Mac Allister after the win against Algeria.
Inter Miami attacker Messi had not even committed to playing the tournament in North America until the last moment.
But nobody realistically expected him to be absent from spearheading Argentina’s title defence.
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain wizard dragged his country to World Cup glory four years ago.
Argentina can qualify for the next round with a victory over Austria and would be assured of finishing top of Group J if Jordan fail to beat Algeria later on Monday.
After former Germany forward Klose, next on the all-time list is Brazilian great Ronaldo, with 15 goals, one ahead of Gerd Muller and current France star Kylian Mbappe. (AL Jazeers)
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