Lionel Messi's record-breaking day at the 2026 World Cup drew a public response from Brazil legend Marta after the Argentine forward passed her on the all-time tournament scoring chart during Argentina's 2-0 win over Austria on Monday in Atlanta.
The 38-year-old Messi scored his 17th and 18th career World Cup goals in the match. His opener in the 38th minute broke the men's tournament record of 16 goals, previously held by Germany's Miroslav Klose. Messi added a second goal in stoppage time at 90+5, putting Argentina up 2-0 and sealing another historic milestone.
That second strike moved Messi past Marta, who had previously held the all-time World Cup goals record with 17 across six tournament appearances. Before the 2026 World Cup began, Messi entered the tournament with 13 career goals. His scoring surged to 16 after an opening-game hat trick against Algeria on June 17.
Messi nearly broke the men's all-time record earlier in the match when he stepped to a penalty kick in the 12th minute of the first half. He missed the kick, pushing the ball right, briefly delaying his place in the history books before his two goals later in the game.
After the match, Marta saluted Messi with three clapping hands emojis on her Instagram story.
Messi said postgame:
Honestly, the way it happened was spectacular. Today, I had the penalty kick that could've extended our lead. I mean, if I'd scored it, maybe the other goal doesn't happen either. You never know, but in the end, we're happy with the result and with the team's participation and everyone's teamwork.
