Messi dribbles past Ronaldo, ‘Klose’ to FIFA World Cup scoring record

Records are never safe when Lionel Messi is around. The Argentine wizard scored a hat-trick in his country's FIFA World Cup 2026 opener against Algeria in Kansas City on Wednesday to equal a scoring record that remained intact for more than a decade.

Messi has tied with German hitman Miroslav Klose on 16 goals in World Cups. He can become the highest scorer in World Cup finals with a goal against Austria in Argentina's second group match on June 22. Klose scored his 16th World Cup goal in his 24th match, in 2014, the last time Germany were crowned champions.

Messi scored his first World Cup goal in the 2006 edition, which marked his debut at the greatest stage. He went goalless in the 2010 edition, when Argentina crashed out in the quarterfinals after a 0-4 defeat to Germany. Klose scored twice in that match played at the Cape Town Stadium.

Messi returned with four goals in 2014, one in 2018, and seven in the 2022 edition, in which he famously led Argentina to their third title, 36 years after the Diego Maradona-inspired 1986 triumph.

Before the Algeria match, Messi was tied on 13 goals with former French star Just Fontaine. With a sumptuous strike in the 17th minute, he drew level with Kylian Mbappe of France and German icon Gerd Muller.

Messi tied with World Cup-winning Brazilian striker Ronaldo on 15 strikes after an opportunistic strike in the 60th minute. Just 16 minutes later, he was level on World Cup goals with Klose.

He could have created history in the same match, but Argentine head coach Lionel Scaloni decided to give his star player a well-deserved rest after 80 minutes. Messi was substituted out for Nico Paz.