The GOAT continues to amaze the world as Lionel Messi now reigns supreme at the top of the list of all-time goalscorers at the World Cup.
With his two goal against Austria in Argentina’s group-stage game on June 22, Messi surpassed the long-standing record held by Germany’s Miroslav Klose. It came a week after Messi scored his first career World Cup hat trick in a win over Algeria, while also setting the record as the oldest player (38) to record a hat trick at the tournament — passing Cristiano Ronaldo’s feat from 2022 when he was 33 years old.
But this list could change even more. France’s Kylian Mbappé has 14 goals all time at the World Cup, tied for the fourth-most ever, and could add to his tally this summer. With that being said, here are the players with the most goals in World Cup men’s history. Let’s take a look.
Messi’s five goals at the 2026 World Cup have now given him the record. Messi has played in every World Cup since 2006 and scored in all but one (2010). He scored seven goals at the 2022 World Cup. Messi is also Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer with 122 to his name and additionally holds the record for most World Cup matches played with 28.
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Playing in four straight World Cups from 2002 to 2014, Klose scored in all four editions of the World Cups he participated in and capped it off by lifting the trophy in 2016. His 71 goals for Germany are also the most in the national team’s history.
(Photo by Gunnar Berning/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Mbappé has scored an outrageous 14 goals in just 15 World Cup matches in his career. As a 19-year-old in 2018, he scored four goals for France, helping it win its first title since 1998, and then he scored eight goals in 2022 — most notably netting the second hat trick in a World Cup final ever against Argentina.
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Fontaine holds one of the most incredible stats in World Cup history, as all 13 of his goals came in the 1958 edition of the tournament — the record for most goals scored by a player at a single World Cup. It’s been 68 years since he set that record, and no one has come close to breaking it.
(Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
Klinsmann scored in three straight World Cups from 1990 to 1998, helping Germany lift the trophy in 1990. His 47 goals for Germany overall are tied for the fourth-most in national team history.
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