Lionel Messi added another remarkable chapter to his legendary FIFA World Cup career by becoming the first player in men's football history to score 20 World Cup goals during Argentina's Round of 32 clash against Cape Verde at the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Friday.
The Argentina captain broke the deadlock in the 29th minute at Miami Stadium, calmly finishing from open play to hand the defending champions a 1-0 lead, in front of a partisan crowd in the city he now calls home as an Inter Miami player.
The strike further extended Messi's hold over the men's World Cup scoring record. The 39-year-old had already surpassed Miroslav Klose's long-standing tally of 16 goals earlier in the tournament and has now reached an unprecedented 20 goals across six World Cup editions.
Messi also continued his extraordinary run of scoring in consecutive World Cup matches. The goal against Cape Verde marked his eighth straight World Cup appearance with a goal, a streak stretching back to the knockout rounds of Qatar 2022 before continuing through all four of Argentina's matches at the 2026 tournament.
(This is a developing story.)
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