Messi breaks Klose's World Cup record with brace against Austria after missing penalty

Lionel Messi broke Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record with two goals against Austria at AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Wednesday, steering Argentina to a 2-0 victory that secured their place in the last 32 of the 2026 World Cup. The performance was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Messi had missed a penalty just minutes before finding the net for the 17th time in the tournament’s history.

The ninth-minute spot kick was the story before it became a footnote. Austria stood back and allowed Messi the space to compose himself, but his casual left-footed sweep curled wide of Alexander Schlager’s post. For a player who has missed 33 of 149 penalties across his career — a 78.4 percent conversion rate that sits below the standard his broader genius invites — it was a familiar, if rare, blemish.

What followed, however, illustrated the quality that has sustained Messi across a 201st international cap and a 28th World Cup appearance. Rather than retreating into the margins, he reorganised Argentina’s shape, drifting into his own half to drag Austrian centre-backs out of position and open corridors for his teammates to exploit.

The first goal arrived through that exact mechanism. A sharp ball inside from Thiago Almada found Facundo Medina, and with four Argentine players already ahead of the ball, Almada chose to leave it — a selfless decision that created the space Messi needed. Waiting unmarked, Messi cushioned a finish back across goal and inside the left corner with Schlager already committed. It was his record-breaking 17th World Cup goal, moving him past Klose’s mark that had stood since the 2014 final.

His 18th came in stoppage time, this time through sheer force rather than finesse, as Argentina extended their lead and confirmed top spot in Group J.

The milestone arrives during a tournament in which Messi had already registered a hat-trick against Algeria. On 28 World Cup appearances, he now stands alone as the competition’s all-time leading scorer — a record that, given his age and Argentina’s progression, may yet grow further before the tournament concludes.