{"id":25831,"date":"2026-06-22T19:48:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/22\/lionel-messi-breaks-world-cup-goals-record-as-argentina-beat-austria-live-updates-and-reaction-the-new-york-times\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T19:48:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:48:49","slug":"lionel-messi-breaks-world-cup-goals-record-as-argentina-beat-austria-live-updates-and-reaction-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/22\/lionel-messi-breaks-world-cup-goals-record-as-argentina-beat-austria-live-updates-and-reaction-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi breaks World Cup goals record as Argentina beat Austria: Live updates and reaction &#8211; The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>World Cup<br \/>FIFA World<br \/>Cup 2026<br \/>LIVE<br \/><span>37s ago<\/span><br \/>LIVE<br \/><span>9m ago<\/span><br \/>Advertisement<br \/>live<br \/>Updated <time datetime=\"2026-06-22T19:45:34.970Z\">3m ago<\/time><br \/><strong>Lionel Messi is now the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history.<\/strong><br \/>Messi, 38, broke Miroslav Klose\u2019s longstanding men\u2019s record when he opened the scoring in Argentina\u2019s Group J victory over Austria.<br \/>Messi, who has now scored in six consecutive World Cup matches, then broke Marta\u2019s overall record when he added a second late on, his 18th World Cup goal.<br \/>Argentina\u2019s 2-0 victory means the reigning world champions have already secured their place in the knockout round.<br \/>Here&#x27;s what <strong>Lionel Messi<\/strong> said to Telemundo after the game, with Argentina securing their place in the knockouts. <br \/>\ud83d\udcac <strong><em>\u201cWe\u2019re really happy with the win. It was hugely important and came after a lot of hard work. <\/em><\/strong><br \/><strong><em>\u201cHopefully, this gives us some peace of mind for what\u2019s ahead. It was a very evenly matched game, but we got the job done. We\u2019re delighted to have qualified.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><br \/>And here&#x27;s how the World Cup scoring record has progressed over the years. <br \/>Here&#x27;s confirmation of <strong>Messi<\/strong>&#x27;s position at the top of the World Cup scoring charts on 18 goals, moving two clear of Miroslav Klose. <br \/>Some extraordinary players on that list, but not many have even got near the Argentinian. <br \/>Only four players had more touches in that match than <strong>Messi<\/strong>, which is fairly rare for a player starting in the attacking line.<br \/>This is no normal player, though, as you already know.<br \/>We saw a bit of everything from Messi today; he has looked as fresh and sharp as ever at this World Cup so far.<br \/>That first goal was a thing of beauty. If we could map a \u201cdummy\u201d in the data, we would \u2014 as <strong>Thiago Almada<\/strong> deserves credit for his role in Argentina\u2019s opener.<br \/>There are some exceptional players in that Argentina team.<br \/><strong>Enzo Fernandez<\/strong> cost Chelsea more than \u00a3100million, <strong>Lautaro Martinez<\/strong> is a three-time Serie A winner, <strong>Alexis Mac Allister<\/strong> won the Premier League. The list goes on.<br \/>But as they applauded the Argentina fans at the final whistle, they all looked like backing artists to a man who turns 39 in a couple of days.<br \/>At that age, logic says Messi should be playing useful cameos. But he is still the leading man and the supporting cast seem to love him for it.<br \/>This was supposed to be <strong>Argentina<\/strong>&#x27;s \u2018first real test\u2019 \u2014 a \u2018step up\u2019 in quality from what they faced against Algeria.<br \/>And in moments of the first half it was was because <strong>Austria<\/strong>&#x27;s counterpress was typical of a Rangnick team. But the Austrians have posed almost no threat in an attacking sense.<br \/>So we know Argentina have some excellent players. We know Messi is defying the aging process. And we know they are capable of playing some lovely football in possession.<br \/>But we are still not completely sure how strong they will be against a serious attacking force.<br \/>With five goals in two games, <strong>Messi<\/strong> has already matched the entire total it took to win the Golden Boot at both the 2006 (Miroslav Klose) and 2010 (Thomas Muller) World Cups. <br \/>Not bad from Argentina. They dealt with an Austrian team with few ideas and too little attacking talent to be particularly dangerous. <br \/>Are the Argentinians that good or are we just being drawn to the <strong>Messi<\/strong> shininess? I don&#x27;t know yet. It&#x27;s probably somewhere in between and they will need to find another level if, say, they are to overcome a Spain or France-level threat.<br \/>But \u2014 hey, fair enough \u2014 they did what they needed to do here.<br \/>There is nothing more I can say about <strong>Messi<\/strong> that hasn&#x27;t already been said at this World Cup.<br \/>He didn&#x27;t have his best game today \u2014 nowhere near, in fact \u2014 but he still walks off with another two goals and is his nation&#x27;s matchwinner again.<br \/>Messi has five goals in two World Cup games and will already take some stopping in his pursuit of the Golden Boot.<br \/>One Argentina fan holds up their baby, Simba in the Lion King style, earmuffs on to protect them from the deafening celebrations which erupted after <strong>Messi<\/strong>&#x27;s second goal.<br \/>Another held up a sign saying \u201c100-year-old Messi fan\u201d.<br \/>Even supporters a century apart can appreciate his genius.<br \/>I\u2019ll tell you this for nothing \u2014 that <strong>Messi<\/strong> goal would not have gone in for anybody else. <br \/>It was way too much of a shambles. Too many players on the line. No real gaps to shoot through. Hit and hope. But the cards fall for that man again.<br \/>I don&#x27;t even know what to say anymore. <strong>Messi<\/strong> is not real.<br \/><strong>FT: Argentina 2-0 Austria<\/strong><br \/>The <strong>Lionel Messi<\/strong> World Cup rolls on. <br \/>Two more goals for the 38-year-old and Argentina are into the knockouts. <br \/><strong>90+5\u2019 Argentina 2-0 Austria<\/strong><br \/>From that promising Austria chance, Argentina counter with aplomb. And guess who gets on the end of it? <br \/><strong>Alvarez<\/strong> looks certain to score but his shot is brilliantly saved by <strong>Schlager<\/strong>. It comes back to <strong>Fernandez<\/strong> to tee up <strong>Messi<\/strong>, who needs two goes at it before converting with his second attempt. <br \/>Make that 18 World Cup goals for the great man. <br \/><strong>90+5\u2019 Argentina 2-0 Austria<\/strong><br \/>And just like that, <strong>Lionel Messi<\/strong> has another.<br \/>All the angles of Leo Messi&#39;s 18th FIFA World Cup goal, two clear of Miroslav Klose on the all-time men&#39;s leaderboard \ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf7 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KwJGBsPomS\">pic.twitter.com\/KwJGBsPomS<\/a><br \/><strong>90+3\u2019 Argentina 1-0 Austria<\/strong><br \/>This isn&#x27;t done yet and Austria get a rare chance with a couple of minutes of stoppage time remaining. <br \/><strong>Danso<\/strong> heads across goal to <strong>Wimmer<\/strong>, who heads just wide. <br \/><strong>90+2\u2019 Argentina 1-0 Austria<\/strong><br \/>Argentina are still pushing for a second and win a free kick when <strong>Gonzalez<\/strong> is fouled by <strong>Wimmer<\/strong>. <br \/>Five minutes added on and <strong>Messi<\/strong> takes the set piece high up the pitch on the left, but <strong>Chukwuemeka<\/strong> comes away with it. <br \/>Soon after, <strong>Paredes<\/strong> is booked for a foul on Chukwuemeka.<br \/><strong>86\u2019 Argentina 1-0 Austria<\/strong><br \/>On comes <strong>Chukwuemeka<\/strong> for Gregoritsch with time rapidly running out for Austria. <br \/>The defending champions look to wrap the game up as <strong>Martinez<\/strong> plays a wonderful long ball for <strong>Gonzalez<\/strong> to collect.<br \/>The substitute cuts inside but <strong>Schlager<\/strong> saves, then the follow-up from <strong>Fernandez<\/strong> is blocked by <strong>Danso<\/strong>. <br \/>Team Stats<br \/>ARG<br \/>AUT<br \/>Game Details<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMiwwFBVV95cUxPYkNFUmtvM0JJVHF0cTh3SXBualNSaTNNbkhTa2dlR0NoRXdSZmFaRlp3clFsSi1rQ0lSbHQwUFUydVNjbW1QVlQ3Slc3RDRWTzRlcHBiS18wVXExRFRZTVo4eHVxQ1Vqc0VhejRQWW1qdmVxV3ljSm9yVVZQMEcxN0x1dWREMC1PbkVXQWJUeEItWm9McjhVbENPYTNVcWVGalVkcnF3eFc3TEVqMHhaWmFsd3h6TlFnZDMxQ0Q1VHBIVG8?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World CupFIFA WorldCup 2026LIVE37s agoLIVE9m agoAdvertisementliveUpdated 3m agoLionel Messi is now the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history.Messi, 38, broke Miroslav Klose\u2019s longstanding men\u2019s record when he opened the scoring in Argentina\u2019s Group J victory over Austria.Messi, who has now scored in six consecutive World Cup matches, then broke Marta\u2019s overall record when he [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}