The moment finally came for Argentine legend Lionel Messi, as the veteran forward scored his 17th FIFA World Cup goal. He broke the record of German legend Miroslav Klose, who scored 16 goals in the tournament, and Messi managed to break the record with a magnificent goal against Austria.ย
It is interesting to note that Lionel Messi kicked off his FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign with a brilliant hat-trick against Algeria. With the three goals in his first game, Messi equalled the record of Klose with 16 goals to his name and has finally made the record solely his own with another goal against Algeria.ย
Widely revered as the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi has once again established himself as the king of the sport. Delivering when it mattered for his side once more, Messi gave Argentina the lead in the latter stages of the first half as his side maintained its winning run in the tournament.ย
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What did Argentinaโs head coach say before the game against Austria?
With Lionel Messi set to become 40 years old on June 24th, ahead of his birthday, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni took centre stage and talked about the recent performances of Messi and wished for him to be happy ahead of his special day.ย
โWe believe itโs the group that gets through both the good and the bad moments. We know that being beside a friend always makes things better. Thatโs how we all feel, and I imagine Leo feels the same way, based on what he said. I donโt want to talk more about it. I just want him to be happyโthatโs what we all want,โ Scaloni was quoted as saying by ESPN.ย
Furthermore, the head coach also talked about the newly implemented hydration break rule in the ongoing World Cup. โThe heat and the constant stoppages end up helping the team that is theoretically weaker. In the end, it feels like it was done to create more time, but it breaks up the game. This idea of four periods feels unnatural,โ he said.
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