Lionel Messi handed boost to become all-time top World Cup goalscorer before Kylian Mbappe | OneFootball

Lionel Messi has matched Miroslav Klose’s record, but Kylian Mbappe is not too far behind

Kylian Mbappe is up and running in his third World Cup, while Lionel Messi marked his sixth appearance at football’s biggest event in style.

The Frenchman, captaining his nation in North America this summer, has shone on football’s biggest stage previously, from shattering records to scoring a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

While he very nearly single-handedly carried France to back-to-back World Cup wins, Mbappe left Qatar 2022 by enhancing his reputation as one of the most prolific goalscorers in the tournament’s history.

Prior to the start of World Cup 2026, the 27-year-old was tipped to become the overall top goalscorer in World Cup history, potentially setting a record that may never be broken.

Ahead of facing Senegal on Tuesday night, Mbappe had scored 12 goals in just 14 World Cup appearances, which means he had averaged a goal every 0.86 minutes at the finals.

Kylian Mbappe has now scored 14 World Cup goals

How many goals does Kylian Mbappe need to become World Cup all-time leading scorer?

After scoring twice against Senegal, Mbappe now needs two more goals to equal the record and three to claim the record outright. For context, the forward scored four times in 2018 and eight times in 2022.

As such, if he continues at this rate, he will tie with Klose and Messi at the very least, with France’s remaining games in Group I against Iraq and Norway.

As one of the favourites to win the entire tournament, the deeper France go then the chances of Mbappe claiming the record will increase.

However, Messi poses a threat to his former Paris Saint-Germain team-mate on what is expected to be his last World Cup.

Messi scored seven times in Qatar 2022, including two in the final against France to inspire Argentina to a penalty shootout victory and take his tally to 13 goals in 26 World Cup appearances.

That tally now stands at 16 after scoring a hat-trick against Algeria as the holders began the defence of their crown in style. It means Messi is now tied with Klose for World Cup goals and scheduling offers him the chance to break the record first.

Hat-trick hero: Lionel Messi

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Argentina and France are both in action next Monday, but crucially, perhaps, Messi goes first in the 6pm BST kick-off against Austria in search of the one goal that will confirm him as the all-time top goalscorer in World Cup history.

That said, he may not hold the record for long as Mbappe and France are in action against Iraq a few hours later where a hat-trick is the forward’s individual target - after helping his nation seal a place in the knockout phase, of course.