Lionel Messi found the back of the net in the 16th minute for Argentina, recording his 14th career FIFA World Cup goal. The strike extends a historic run across five consecutive World Cup tournaments for the player widely considered the greatest of all time.
Messi entered the 2026 World Cup with 13 goals spread across four previous tournaments: one goal in 2006, four in 2014, one in 2018, and seven in 2022 when he finally lifted the trophy in Qatar. His tally already placed him among the top World Cup scorers in history. The all-time record belongs to Germany’s Miroslav Klose with 16.
Argentina has been drawn into Group J of the expanded 48-team tournament, hosted across North America. Now playing club football at Inter Miami in Major League Soccer, this is almost certainly a farewell World Cup for the defending champion.
Messi scored more goals at age 35 in Qatar than he did across his first three tournaments combined. He needs three more goals to tie Klose’s record, four to break it outright.