Lionel Messi became the top scorer in FIFA World Cup history after netting his 17th goal in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria on Monday. The Argentina captain later added another goal in stoppage time to take his tally to 18.Messi reached the milestone in the 38th minute, just two days before his 39th birthday. With the strike, Messi scored in his sixth consecutive World Cup match, joining France’s Just Fontaine and Brazil’s Jairzinho as the only players to achieve the feat.The Argentina captain equaled Germany’s Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals after scoring his first hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria in their Group J opener last Tuesday in Kansas City.He had a chance to go ahead of Klose against Austria but missed a penalty in the ninth minute.Argentina, who have won both groups, have already secured a place in the knockout stages. Messi has scored all five of Argentina’s goals in the tournament so far, his sixth World Cup.His record-breaking goal came when Thiago Almada allowed a pass from Facundo Medina to Messi. From around 20 yards, Messi curled his volley past Alexander Schlager, who mistimed it.After scoring, Messi ran to the corner and raised his right hand as Argentina’s huge crowd celebrated inside the sold-out stadium, which drew 70,649 spectators to the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.The same crowd has done it before when Messi missed a goal. His left-footed effort went wide of the target. He has now converted four of his seven all-time World Cup penalties and has missed penalties in three consecutive tournaments.Messi’s second goal came in stoppage time. His first attempt was saved by Schlager, he sent a pass over many defenders and into the net.Klose scored his 16th World Cup goal in 24 appearances for Germany. His last appearance in the World Cup came as Germany won 1-0 in extra time against Argentina in the 2014 final.In an interview published on June 12, Klose said he hopes Messi will break his record.“I expect my reputation to fall in this tournament,” Klose told German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.“With the big teams competing there are more games and more chances to score goals. And I think Argentina and France will go far. That’s fine, the record will be broken in the end and Messi is welcome to be the one to do it. I’m a big fan of Messi, always have been. Messi is a genius.”Messi’s hat-trick against Algeria came on his 200th international appearance and 20 years after he scored on his World Cup debut in Germany. Monday’s game was his 28th FIFA World Cup appearance.
