Messi stands alone: the World Cup record is his

The record that seemed untouchable

Klose's mark of 16 World Cup goals had the feel of something permanent — the kind of number that gets cited in pub arguments as proof that the record books don't always belong to the obvious names. The German striker built it across four tournaments, from Korea/Japan 2002 through to Brazil 2014, with a consistency and longevity that made it look genuinely unassailable. For a long time, it was.

Messi had other ideas. He arrived at the 2026 World Cup — his fifth, and almost certainly his last — already level with Klose after his exploits in Qatar 2022, where Argentina lifted the trophy and Messi finally got the one thing his career had been missing. The record, at that point, was simply the next thing on the list.

What this means, actually

According to ESPN FC, Messi scored his 17th World Cup goal in Argentina's Group J match against Austria — moving clear of Klose and into territory no man in the history of the men's game has reached.

Seventeen World Cup goals. Consider what that actually means. These are not friendly goals, not league games against mid-table sides on a Tuesday night. Every single one came under the most pressurised conditions the sport produces, on the biggest stage, with the whole planet watching. Messi has now scored more of them than anyone who has ever played.

Klose, for his part, always seemed at peace with the idea that the record would eventually fall to Messi. In interviews after Qatar 2022, the German spoke warmly about Messi's quality — the kind of graciousness that makes a rivalry feel like a handover rather than a defeat.

The 2026 chapter

That Messi is still doing this at the 2026 World Cup — still arriving at tournaments and rewriting them — is the detail that will age best. The conversation around his legacy has been settled for years in most people's minds, but records like this one have a way of making the abstract concrete. Seventeen World Cup goals. One man. No one else close.

The tournament continues, and Messi, apparently, continues with it.