DALLAS, (Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2026) La Pulga secured his place at the absolute pinnacle of football history, netting a spectacular brace to fire Argentina to a 2-0 victory over Austria and become the all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup™ history. The legendary Argentine maestro has now amassed 18 goals across his World Cup career—building on a sensational hat-trick in the tournament opener against Algeria—to officially surpass Miroslav Klose’s previous record of 16 goals.
The historic breakthrough at Dallas Stadium did not come without drama as Messi saw an early penalty saved. However, the Argentine captain refused to be denied, opening the scoring by smoothly stroking the ball into the bottom corner after capitalising on a clever dummy by Thiago Almada that allowed Facundo Medina's pass to find him in the box. Deep into stoppage time, Messi struck again to put the game to bed, securing a thrilling victory for La Albiceleste.
This dynamic double catapulted Messi to the top of this tournament's Golden Boot standings and safely guided Lionel Scaloni’s defending champions out of Group J and into the Round of 32.
Adding to the magic of the occasion, Messi's historic feat occurred exactly on the 40th anniversary of Diego Maradona’s legendary 'Goal of the Century' against England.
As he has done in seven of Argentina's last nine World Cup appearances, Lionel Messi proved to be the ultimate difference-maker.
