Messi follows in the footsteps of Harry Kane and repeats the record that has been preserved for 32 years in the World Cup.

Argentina officially booked their place in the round of 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a valuable 2-0 win over their Austrian counterparts in the second round of Group Ten on Monday night.

Argentine star Lionel Messi was the undisputed hero of the match, scoring the winning goals in the 38th and 90th + 5 minutes to continue his remarkable run of form in the tournament and lead his country to early qualification for the knockout stages.

According to the network “Stats Foot:“ French statistician Messi became only the second player in World Cup history to score his country’s first five goals in a single game at the tournament, after Russian Oleg Salenko scored Russia’s first six goals at the 1994 World Cup.

In turn, he noted the account “Mr. Sheep“ The statistician noted that Messi has joined the historic list of players who have opened their World Cup careers by scoring five or more goals in the first two games.

The list includes Argentinian Guillermo Stabile in 1930 with 5 goals, Hungarian Sandor Kocsis in 1954 with 7 goals, French Just Fontaine in 1958 with 5 goals, and Englishman Harry Kane with 5 goals in the 2018 game, and before them, Messi joined the World Cup with 2 goals. good

As he explained “Mr. Sheep“ Argentina, although they are officially guaranteed a place in the next round, still have the opportunity to finish the group stage in the first, second or third places based on the results of the last round. Messi, on the other hand, continued to build on his exceptional reputation at major tournaments as he maintained his perfect record of getting past the group stage with the teams he featured in.

According to the same statistics, the Argentinian captain has managed to qualify in all his appearances: 19 out of 19 Champions League qualifiers, one out of one Club World Cup, two out of two League Cup appearances, 6 out of 6 World Cups and 7 out of 7 Copa America. 35 participations.

A network has been identified in the related context “Opta“ Lionel Messi tops the list of top scorers at the 2026 World Cup so far with 5 goals without an assist, while German striker Denis Undav is second with 5 goals, 3 goals and 2 assists.