International press hails Messi: ‘Eternal’, ‘King’ and ‘historic’ | OneFootball

Lionel Messi delivered another stellar performance in the 2-0 win over Austria, in the second matchday of Group J at the 2026 World Cup. The No. 10 bagged a brace, reached 18 official goals, and was crowned the top scorer in World Cup history, surpassing German legend Miroslav Klose. As a result, he not only received praise from his own teammates, but also from various highly prestigious international media outlets.

The Rosario-born star now has 18 goals in 28 official matches, a tally that will surely keep rising, and he moved past the former German striker, who scored 16 goals. “The most historic Messi” was how Spain’s Diario Marca described him. It then looked ahead with a wish for the future: “Let’s dream of Leo at the 2030 World Cup in Spain. It makes you rub your eyes in disbelief”.

“Messi is eternal every single day. Let the tears of joy flow. 38 years of pure beauty”, wrote Catalonia’s Sport. Meanwhile, the English newspaper The Guardian struck a more restrained tone: “Messi breaks World Cup scoring record with first goal”. Very different was the headline from Brazil’s GeGlobo, which added more emotion: “Messi 18 times! The star opens the scoring and breaks the record.”

Sport newspaper of Catalonia’s tribute to Lionel Messi. La Gazzetta dello Sport of Italy’s tribute to Lionel Messi. Diario Marca of Spain’s tribute to Lionel Messi.

From England, 40 years after Diego Maradona’s Goal of the Century at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, more praise also came in. “The Age of Leo”, headlined The Sun. It then elaborated by saying that “Lionel Messi breaks the World Cup scoring record with a brilliant brace in Argentina’s victory”. Meanwhile, Portuguese outlet A Bola gave one of the strongest headlines: “Messi is the new King.”

The same happened with France’s L’Equipe which, despite the rivalry he maintains with Kylian Mbappé, who already has 15 World Cup goals and is closing in on the No. 10’s mark, acknowledged: “Approaching his 39th birthday, the 2022 world champion continues to cement his legendary status”. They also set a new challenge for him: “He is still far from the record of Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals in a single tournament.”

Lionel Messi’s remarks after the 2-0 win over Austria

https://twitter.com/AlbicelesteTalk/status/2069185585227456895?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Finally, Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote: “Messi misses a penalty, then scores two more goals and makes history. Argentina beat Austria and qualify”. In this way, the Argentine star’s performance (he now has all of Argentina’s goals in the tournament) has once again gone beyond all borders and sparked the admiration of much of the international press.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.