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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Lionel Messi became the highest goal scorer in World Cup history Monday, moving up to 18 with a superb double in Argentina's Group J match against Austria and breaking a tie with Germany legend Miroslav Klose.
Messi entered the day on 16 goals following a hat trick in Argentina's opener, and missed a penalty early on against Austria which briefly denied him the outright record. But Messi curled home from a cutback in the 38th minute and then added a late second in the 2-0 win in Dallas, which secures defending champion Argentina's place in the knockouts.
The Argentina captain has now scored in six consecutive World Cup games since 2022 and his 18th goal all-time also moves him clear of women's World Cup top scorer Marta, who has 17.
Kylian Mbappé joined Klose on 16 in Monday's later kickoff with a double of his own as France beat Iraq 3-0.
"There were moments when I was really angry about missing the penalty, but I was able to make up for it," Messi said.
Messi had tied Klose's record by scoring a hat trick during Argentina's 3-0 win over Algeria to kick off the 2026 World Cup on June 16. The hat trick stands as the 11th of Messi's international career, but first at a World Cup.
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Messi scored his first World Cup goal on June 16, 2006, at 18 years old, netting a second-half strike against Serbia and Montenegro.
Twenty years later, he continues to break records by leading in goal count and becoming the first player to feature in six different editions of a men's World Cup.
The goals put Messi up to 122 international goals for Argentina, trailing only Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 143.
Argentina's triumph on Monday afternoon propelled Messi to lead in most men's World Cup victories as well.
"Beyond anything I'm so happy for the win," Messi said. "It was huge, tough and difficult. It would allow us to be relaxed to what's ahead. All matches in this World Cup are very even, very intense. I'm enjoying this moment and craving to enjoy with my teammates."
Messi had a golden opportunity to break the record in the ninth minute, but went wide to the right on a penalty kick after a stuttered run-up. Almost 30 minutes later, Messi caught goalkeeper Alexander Schlager leaning the wrong way after Thiago Almada let Facundo Medina's pass go by him directly onto Messi's left foot.
In the waning seconds of injury time, Messi extended his record by sending a shot through several defenders after Schlager turned away his first attempt.
Messi, who turns 39 on Wednesday and has an ailing father back home, has scored all five of Argentina's goals in the tournament and has 12 World Cup goals since turning 35.
Argentina, meanwhile, extended its winning streak in the tournament to eight since a shocking loss to Saudi Arabia in its 2022 opener in Qatar.
Argentina has now officially qualified for the World Cup's round of 32, leading Group J with six points. La Albiceleste will close the group stage of the competition with the match against Jordan in Texas.
Information from Associated Press was used in this report.