Lionel Messi has become the outright leading scorer in men's World Cup history after netting his 17th tournament goal during Argentina's Group J match against Austria. He then scored another late on to make it 18.
His first goal of the match moved the Argentine captain ahead of retired Germany forward Miroslav Klose, whose record of 16 goals had stood since the 2014 World Cup.
Messi, who turns 39 in two days, scored in the first half after meeting a pass inside the penalty area and calmly finishing past the Austrian goalkeeper. The goal came after he had earlier missed a penalty, delaying what many expected would be another historic milestone in a career already filled with records.
Messi's second of the night further entrenched his record, as he displayed dogged determination to score in the final moments of injury time to make it 2-0.
A record-breaking career
