Lionel Messi further cemented his legacy as one of football’s all-time greats, scoring a brilliant brace against Austria to become the all-time leading goalscorer in FIFA World Cup™ history. His record-breaking performance at Dallas Stadium propelled Lionel Scaloni’s defending champions directly into the Round of 32 from Group J.

The Argentina captain now stands alone at the top of the sport’s greatest stage with 18 career World Cup goals—surpassing Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who previously held the record with 16 strikes.

A Historic Milestone in Texas

Argentina’s historic afternoon unfolded on the exact 40th anniversary of Diego Maradona’s legendary “Goal of the Century” against England. However, the path to the record books required resilience from the talismanic number 10, whose celebrations were briefly delayed by an early penalty miss and a series of decisive defensive blocks from David Alaba for a spirited Austrian side.

The breakthrough finally arrived in the 38th minute. Facundo Medina played an incisive ball into the penalty area, and a clever dummy by Thiago Almada allowed it to run through to Messi, who calmly stroked a clinical finish into the bottom corner. Deep into second-half stoppage time, Messi struck again, finding the back of the net in the 95th minute to seal a 2-0 victory and claim the outright lead in this tournament’s Golden Boot standings.

Defending Champions Shut Down Austria

Ralf Rangnick’s Austria fought hard to disrupt the Argentinian celebrations, coming closest to scoring via a free-kick from Marcel Sabitzer, who was making his landmark 100th international appearance. Argentina threatened to extend their lead further through Nico González, but ultimately relied on their defensive discipline to stifle the European side.

Austria struggled to consistently break down the reigning world champions, allowing Messi to dictate the tempo. By turning the tide for his country, Messi has now been the decisive difference-maker in seven of the Albiceleste’s last nine World Cup fixtures.

The victory keeps Argentina perfect at the top of Group J with six points from two matches, guaranteeing their place in the knockout phase, while Austria sits in second place ahead of the final group games.