FIFA World Cup 2026: Messi becomes all-time leading scorer; Mbappe, Haaland respond with braces

Texas [US], June 22 (ANI): It was a landmark day at the FIFA World Cup for two of the game's biggest stars on Monday (US time). Argentina's legendary forward Lionel Messi became the tournament's all-time leading scorer, netting both goals in a 2-0 victory over Austria.
Meanwhile, France's Kylian Mbappe kept pace in the race for history with a brace of his own, moving into a tie for second place on the all-time scoring charts, as per the FIFA website.
Having begun the day level with German legend Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals, Messi now stands alone at the summit with 18. Yet Mbappe's latest double underlined that this heavyweight scoring duel could continue all the way to a potential final showdown in New York-New Jersey on 19 July.
Norway's prolific striker Erling Haaland also strengthened his credentials in the Golden Boot race, scoring two goals for the second consecutive match. His brace helped Norway edge Senegal 3-2 and join Argentina and France in securing their places in the Round of 32.
The record-breaking march has been relentless for Messi. Last week, he surpassed the World Cup tallies of Just Fontaine, Gerd Muller and Ronaldo. On Monday, he eclipsed Klose's mark as well, taking sole possession of a record that had stood at 16 goals and further cementing his place among the greatest players in World Cup history.
Messi's brace came after he had missed an early penalty, meaning that he has now scored all five of Argentina's goals, at a tournament where they are also yet to concede. The defending champions strolled into the Round of 32 with a match to spare, ahead of a final group outing against Jordan on Saturday.
The maestro has won a record 8 Ballon d'Or and 4 FIFA Best Men's Player of the Year awards. Along with it, the left-footed genius has won the UEFA Best Player three times.
The 38-year-old has now scored in six consecutive World Cup matches and has equalled the record of six straight World Cup games with a goal, a mark jointly held by France's Just Fontaine and Brazil's Jairzinho.
The Argentine captain arrived in the match after a record-breaking performance in Argentina's 3-0 victory over Algeria in the team's campaign opener, a game that further cemented his status as one of football's greatest players.
Messi scored the first World Cup hat-trick of his career while making his 200th senior appearance for his country, helping the defending champions decidedly open their campaign.
Messi's display against Algeria shattered several other milestones. At 38 years and 357 days old, he became the oldest player ever to score a World Cup hat-trick, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo's previous record set at the 2018 tournament.
After Messi had laid down the gauntlet earlier in the day, Kylian Mbappe showed that he is more than capable of matching the magical Argentinian.
Making his 100th international appearance, the explosive captain scored either side of an extended half-time break to pilot France into the Round of 32.
Mbappe also became the 10th player to make 100 appearances for the France men's national team and the youngest to achieve the feat at the age of 27 years and 184 days.
The 27-year-old further joined an exclusive club by becoming only the fourth player to score two or more goals in at least three successive FIFA World Cup appearances.
He joined Hungary's Sandor Kocsis, who achieved the feat across four successive appearances in 1954, Argentina's Guillermo Stabile in 1930, and Lionel Messi in 2026.
On a remarkable day of goalscoring, Erling Haaland and Ismaila Sarr made it four braces across the four matches, as Norway pipped Senegal in New York, New Jersey.
Haaland became only the sixth player in FIFA World Cup history to score multiple goals in each of his first two appearances at the tournament.
The Manchester City striker joined an illustrious list comprising Guillermo Stabile of Argentina, who achieved the feat in his first three matches in 1930, Hungary's Sandor Kocsis, who did so in his first four matches in 1954, France's Just Fontaine in 1958, Poland's Grzegorz Lato in 1974, and England captain Harry Kane in 2018.
Having lost Julian Ryerson to an early injury, it was his replacement, Marcus Pederson, who struck to send Norway to the break with a narrow lead.
Haaland doubled the advantage in his first three minutes after the restart before Sarr responded shortly after. Just shy of the hour, the Manchester City striker restored the two-goal buffer, with Sarr reducing it in additional time in a ding-dong clash. Norway are also through to the knockouts but sits second behind France on goal difference. (ANI)