5 players to watch at the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Leo Messi and Kylian Mbappe are among the stars to watch in this tournament.
Editor’s note: Follow all World Cup matches live
With an incredible hat-trick on Tuesday night, Lionel Messi equaled the all-time top scorer in Men’s World Cup history.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner scored three goals for Argentina in the World Cup opener against Algeria on Tuesday, June 16, taking him to 16 World Cup goals in his illustrious career.
This was his first hat-trick at the World Cup and contributed to the defending champions’ 3-0 victory.
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Messi entered the match with a three-goal lead over Miroslav Klose (Germany), but left the game as the joint top scorer in the history of the Men’s World Cup.
Earlier in the day, French star Kylian Mbappé scored twice against Senegal to advance to 14 goals. Mbappe is nearly 12 years younger than Messi, so he has the incredible talent to eventually surpass the Argentine legend.
Brazil legend Marta holds the all-time scoring record with 17 goals in six Women’s World Cup appearances.
Messi also made history on Tuesday when the match started, becoming the first man to play in six World Cups. His long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to join him on Wednesday when Portugal take on the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Messi has a chance to break the record in Argentina’s next match against Austria on Monday 22 June.
World Cup Most Goals
- 16 – Miroslav Klose, Germany
- 16 – Lionel Messi, Argentina
- 15 – Ronaldo, Brazil
- 14 – Gerd Müller, West Germany
- 14 – Kylian Mbappé, France
- 13 – Juste Fontaine, France
- 12 – Pele, Brazil
- 11 – Sandor Kocsis, Hungary
- 11 – Jurgen Klinsmann, West Germany and Germany
- 10 – Helmut Rahn, West Germany
- 10 – Gary Lineker, England
- 10 – Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina
- 10 – Teofilo Cubillas, Peru
- 10 – Thomas Müller, Germany
- 10 – Gzergor Lato, Poland
More to come…
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