Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi is now the World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer, but one of the game’s elite is hot on his heels.
Messi, as well as France icon Kylian Mbappe, are writing more World Cup folklore at this summer’s finals.
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After equalling Miroslav Klose’s all-time record of 16 World Cup goals with a stunning hat-trick against Algeria, Argentina captain Messi officially went top of the rankings with both goals in a 2-0 win over Austria.
It would have been back-to-back hat-tricks for Messi had he succeeded in converting an early penalty in their second group match.
And he added to that with a free-kick against Jordan in their final Group J game and a strike against Cape Verde.
Earlier in the tournament, France captain Mbappe returned to World Cup duty with a bang, netting twice as the two-time winners kicked off their campaign with a 3-1 win over Senegal.
Not only did Mbappe leapfrog Olivier Giroud’s record 57-goal haul for Les Bleus, the Real Madrid star also became his country’s all-time leading World Cup scorer.
Mbappe added to his tally in style quick succession, firing home twice against Iraq and Sweden, he also netted against Paraguay.
German legend Klose had held the record for many years after netting a 16 goals at the showpiece tournament.
His record-breaking goal came in Germany’s 7-1 semi-final win over Brazil in 2014 en route to their fourth World Cup victory.
Messi and Mbappe are now well clear of Klose and will likely add more before this summer’s tournament comes to an end.
Not far behind is England captain Harry Kane, who has 13 World Cup goals to his name after firing home five times already this summer.
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Record World Cup goalscorers
- Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 20 goals (30 games)
- Kylian Mbappe (France) – 19 goals (19 games)
- Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 16 goals (24 games)
- Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15 goals (19 games)
- Gerd Muller (Germany) – 14 goals (13 games)
- Just Fontaine (France) – 13 goals (6 games)
- Harry Kane (England) – 13 goals (15 games)
- Pele (Brazil) – 12 goals (14 games)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 11 goals (26 games)
- Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) – 11 goals (5 games)
- Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany) – 11 goals (17 games)
- Helmut Rahn (Germany) – 10 goals (10 games)
- Gary Lineker (England) – 10 goals (12 games)
- Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) – 10 goals (12 games)
- Teofilo Cubillas (Peru) – 10 goals (13 games)
- Thomas Muller (Germany) – 10 goals (19 games)
- Grzegorz Lato (Poland) – 10 goals (20 games)
Who has made the most World Cup appearances?
When it comes to appearances, Messi has the most ever at the World Cup, having overtaken Lothar Matthaus in 2022.
By appearing in his sixth tournament this summer, Messi now has 30 World Cup appearances to his name and will add at least one more as they face Egypt in the last 16.
Below him, Matthaus was second with 25 World Cup caps, but now Ronaldo has overtaken him with his 26th appearance.
Ronaldo overtook the German in Portugal’s last 32 win over Croatia, having already leapfrogged legendary Italian defender Paolo Maldini and Germany legend Klose.
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He also gets at least one more game as Portugal face Spain in the last 16 on July 6.
Germany’s Manuel Neuer came out of retirement to play this summer and made his 23rd appearance in their shock knockout defeat to Paraguay.
Record World Cup appearances
- Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 30 matches
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 26 matches
- Lothar Matthaus (Germany) – 25 matches
- Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 24 matches
- Paolo Maldini (Italy) – 23 matches
- Luka Modric (Croatia) – 23 matches
- Manuel Neuer (Germany) – 23 matches
- Ivan Perisic (Croatia) – 21 matches
- Diego Maradona (Argentina) -21 matches
- Uwe Seeler (Germany) – 21 matches
- Wladyslaw Zmuda (Poland) – 21 matches
- Cafu (Brazil) – 20 matches
- Philipp Lahm (Germany) – 20 matches
- Grzegorz Lato (Poland) – 20 matches
- Hugo Lloris (France) – 20 matches
- Javier Mascherano (Argentina) – 20 matches
- Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) – 20 matches
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