Lionel Messi goes past Kylian Mbappe, now just 1 Goal away from equalling World Record

Lionel Messi has gone past Kylian Mbappe in the race for all-time top scorer in the World Cups after his latest goals against Algeria.

The Argentina star is playing in their World Cup 2026 opener against Algeria and has made a spectacular start to the campaign.

He has already netted a brace against the African opponents as the defending champions lead 2-0 in the Group I encounter.

Messi scored a stunning curler in the first half to give his team the lead. A left-footed strike arrowed into the corner of the net, leaving Luca Zidane not much to do. In the second half, he has found the net again, this time a simple tap-in.

Messi, who is playing his 200th match for Argentina, now has scored 119 international goals. More significantly, Messi now has 15

goals in the World Cup, thus he surpassed France's Kylian Mbappe.

Lionel Messi joint 2nd in All-Time List

Lionel Messi is now joint 2nd with Brazil's Ronaldo as they both have 15 goals in World Cups. Only Germany's Miroslav Klose is ahead with 16 goals to his name. Messi has also played 27 World Cup matches, the most by anyone in the world.

Earlier, Kylian Mbappe also scored two goals in France's 3-1 win over Senegal, thus taking his tally to 14 goals in World Cups in 15 appearances.