Lionel Messi overtakes Miroslav Klose as World Cup’s record scorer | OneFootball

Lionel Messi has moved clear as the World Cup’s all-time record scorer during the 2026 tournament.

According to L'Équipe, this 23rd edition is co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the USA. The record belonged to Miroslav Klose heading in, the German scoring 16 in 24 across four tournaments from 2002 to 2014 before being overtaken.

Messi arrived on 13. He hit a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria, then added a brace in a 2-0 defeat of Austria on Monday, taking him to 18 in 28 across six editions from 2006 to 2026.

Behind Messi and Klose sit Ronaldo on 15 from 19 matches between 1994 and 2006, and Kylian Mbappé. The France captain reached 14 with a double in the 3-1 win over Senegal, then moved to 15 by opening the scoring against Iraq on Monday.

The single-edition benchmark remains Just Fontaine’s 13 in 1958. Only two others hit double figures, Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis with 11 in five matches in 1954, and Müller, who scored 10 of his 14 in 1970.

Three top 10 hauls came this century, Ronaldo’s eight for Brazil in 2002, Mbappé’s eight for France in 2022, and Messi’s seven in the same year. That trend suggests Fontaine could still keep his mark, although the expanded 2026 schedule, eight matches if a team reaches the semi-finals, final or third-place play-off, offers more chances to score.

Source: L'Équipe