Lionel Messi has become the all-time leading goalscorer in men's World Cup history. Messi's two goals against Austria in a group-stage game on June 22nd brought his total to 18, surpassing the previous record held by Germany's Miroslav Klose. This latest achievement adds to Messi's extensive list of World Cup accolades. He has played in every World Cup since 2006, scoring in all but one tournament. In the 2022 World Cup, he scored seven goals, and he holds the record for the most World Cup matches played with 28.
France's Kylian Mbappé is tied for the second-most goals all-time with 16. Mbappé has scored an average of one goal per World Cup match played, accumulating his 16 goals in 16 appearances. He was a key player in France's 2018 World Cup victory, scoring four goals, and netted eight in the 2022 tournament, including a hat trick in the final. Mbappé is already adding to his tally in the current tournament.
Miroslav Klose, who previously held the record, scored 16 goals over four World Cups from 2002 to 2014. He was part of the German team that won the World Cup in 2014 and remains Germany's all-time leading goalscorer with 71 goals.
Other notable players on the all-time World Cup scorers list include Brazil's Ronaldo with 15 goals, and Germany's Gerd Müller with 14. Just Fontaine of France holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup tournament, with 13 goals in 1958. Pelé, another Brazilian legend, scored 12 goals across four World Cup appearances and won three titles.
Players tied with 11 goals include Germany's Jürgen Klinsmann and Hungary's Sándor Kocsis. Seven players have scored exactly 10 World Cup goals: Helmut Rahn, Gary Lineker, Gabriel Batistuta, Teófilo Cubillas, Thomas Müller, Grzegorz Lato, and Miroslav Klose himself before his record-breaking run.