Klose's tribute to the World Cup's all-time top scorer | OneFootball

Miroslav Klose, the legendary German striker, congratulated Lionel Messi, who scored a brace against Austria in Dallas, broke the record, and became the top scorer in World Cup history.

La Pulga had already matched his mark of 16 goals with his spectacular hat trick against Algeria in Kansas in Argentina’s World Cup opener. Now, with his two new goals, he stands alone at the top of that ranking, with 18 goals in his six tournaments.

“For me, Lionel Messi is the best footballer of all time! Congratulations, champion!”, said Klose, a world champion with Germany at Brazil 2014, to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The former striker, 48, had already made clear his admiration for La Pulga and said he did not mind having his record broken at this World Cup. “No problem, the record will be broken sooner or later, and Messi is welcome to do it. I’m a big admirer of Messi, I always have been. He’s a genius,” he said before the start of the tournament.

With his brace against Austria in Dallas, the Argentina captain moved to the top of that ranking with 18 goals in his six World Cups. South Africa 2010 was the only one in which he did not score. In this edition, he already has 5.

Lionel Messi surpassed Miroslav Klose’s mark and is the top scorer in World Cup history.

In this tournament, the only one who seems capable of threatening the record is France’s Kylian Mbappé, who opened with a brace against Senegal and reached 14 goals (in just 15 appearances) at 27 years old. England’s Harry Kane (10 goals) and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (8) are also still competing, but they are far behind.

Lionel Messi, the global football star who will turn 39 this June 24, keeps making history in football. La Pulga leads the Argentina national team, which claimed its second win and dreams of fighting for back-to-back titles at the 2026 World Cup.

With his goal against Austria, Messi reached 17 celebrations in the World Cup and leads the table

The top scorers in World Cup history

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