Last night, in a highly charged Last-16 encounter, Lionel Messi added more goals to his tally and entrenched himself at the top of the overall World Cup scoring charts in the match against the Pharaohs of Egypt.
Messi grabbed one more goal to add to his tally of 21 goals in FIFA World Cups.
Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Just Fontaine (both France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Miroslav Klose, Gerd Muller (both Germany), Ronaldo (Brazil) are Harry Kane (England) are among the many greats to feature in the illustrious list of remarkable scorers in World Cup tournaments.
According to the Fifa website, Mbappe has moved ahead of the German, Klose, after four games of World Cup 2026 while Brazil legend Ronaldo stands one goal behind Klose in fourth.
Ever since its inception in 1930, the Fifa World Cup has brought together the globe’s greatest players in a celebration of the beautiful game. Before this current World Cup, Klose led the overall scoring charts, but Messi has overtaken him in first place after a hat-trick – his first in the World Cup in Argentina’s opening game against Algeria.
The Argentina great followed that with a brace in the win over Austria, and further goals in their final group game with Jordan, the epic Round of 32 encounter against Cape Verde, and the enthralling Last-16 win over Egypt.
The former Germany international is now ranked third, with Kylian Mbappe continuing his astonishing exploits at the global showpiece with a trio of braces against Senegal, Iraq and Sweden, followed by a penalty against Paraguay giving him 19 goals from a mere 19 games.
Here, Fifa lists the leading marksmen in World Cup history.
- Lionel Messi – Argentina Goals: 21
World Cups: Six – 2006 (one goal), 2010 (no goals), 2014 (four goals), 2018 (one goal), 2022 (seven goals), 2026 (eight goals to date)
Matches played: 31
- Kylian Mbappe – France
Goals: 19
World Cups: Three – 2018 (four goals), 2022 (eight goals), 2026 (seven goals to date)
Matches played: 19
- Miroslav Klose – Germany
Goals: 16
World Cups: Four – 2002 (five goals), 2006 (five goals), 2010 (four goals), 2014 (two goals)
Matches played: 24
- Ronaldo – Brazil
Goals: 15
World Cups: Four – 1994 (no goals), 1998 (four goals), 2002 (eight goals), 2006 (three goals)
Matches played: 19
- Harry Kane
Goals: 14 World Cups: Three – 2018 (six goals), 2022 (two goals), 2026 (six goals to date)
Matches played: 16
- Gerd Muller – West Germany
Goals: 14
World Cups: Two – 1970 (10 goals), 1974 (four goals)
Matches played: 13
- Just Fontaine – France
Goals: 13
World Cups: One – 1958
Matches played: Six
- Pele – Brazil
Goals: 12
World Cups: Four – 1958 (six goals), 1962 (one goal), 1966 (one goal), 1970 (four goals)
Matches played: 14
- Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal
Goals: 11
World Cups: Six – 2006 (one goal), 2010 (one goal), 2014 (one goal), 2018 (four goals), 2022 (one goal), 2026 (three goals)
Matches played: 27
- Jurgen Klinsmann – Germany
Goals: 11
World Cups: Three – 1990 (three goals), 1994 (five goals), 1998 (three goals)
Matches played: 17
- Gabriel Batistuta – Argentina
Goals: 10
World Cups: Three – 1994 (four goals), 1998 (five goals), 2002 (one goal)
Matches played: 12
- Lionel Messi scored in Argentina's Last-16 win over Egypt, bringing his total World Cup goals to 21, making him the all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup history.
- Messi has played in six World Cups from 2006 to 2026, scoring consistently across tournaments and recently adding eight goals in the 2026 edition.
- Kylian Mbappe is close behind with 19 goals in just 19 matches across three World Cups, recently surpassing Miroslav Klose, who has 16 goals.
- Other notable top World Cup goal scorers include Ronaldo (Brazil, 15 goals), Harry Kane and Gerd Muller (14 goals each), and Just Fontaine (13 goals).
- The article highlights the legendary scorers' records throughout World Cup history, emphasizing Messi's recent achievements in the context of all-time greats.
