Messi nets 20th World Cup goal to break his own all-time record against Cape Verde

Lionel Messi became the outright greatest World Cup scorer in history — across both the men’s and women’s game — after netting his 20th goal in Argentina’s round-of-16 victory over Cape Verde at Miami Stadium on Friday, 3 July 2026.

The goal extended Messi’s own record, which he had already set at previous tournaments, and came in what has become a remarkable late-career run of World Cup brilliance. Fourteen of his 20 World Cup goals have arrived after the age of 35.

The strike also stretched his World Cup scoring streak to eight consecutive matches, the longest run any player has ever put together in the tournament’s history. Alongside that, Messi has now scored in five straight knockout-stage matches — a feat no player has achieved since World Cup records began being formally tracked in the 1960s. He has 12 goals across those eight games.

Messi’s dominance of Argentina’s attack this tournament has been equally striking. He has scored seven of the team’s nine goals in 2026, making him responsible for more than three-quarters of their output as they advance to the quarter-finals.

The records Messi has broken or extended at this World Cup span generations of the sport. His 20-goal tally surpasses the previous all-time marks set in both the men’s and women’s tournaments, cementing a legacy that now stretches across five World Cups and more than two decades of international football.