Lionel Messi breaks World Cup scoring record with his 17th and 18th goals in Argentina win

Li­onel Mes­si broke the World Cup scor­ing record with his 17th goal and then added an 18th in stop­page time in de­fend­ing cham­pi­on Ar­genti­na’s 2-0 win over Aus­tria on Mon­day.

The record goal came in the 38th minute and two days be­fore Mes­si’s 39th birth­day, and amid the con­cern of an ail­ing fa­ther back at home. It was the sixth con­sec­u­tive World Cup game in which Mes­si has scored — join­ing France strik­er Just Fontaine and Brazil great Jairz­in­ho as on­ly play­ers to do so.

Mes­si had equaled Ger­many strik­er Miroslav Klose for the most goals in the World Cup at 16 with his first hat trick at the tour­na­ment in Ar­genti­na’s 3-0 win over Al­ge­ria in the Group J open­er last Tues­day night in Kansas City.