Lionel Messi has etched his name further into World Cup history after becoming the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 17 goals following Argentina’s clash with Austria on Monday.

The Argentina captain had previously matched former Germany striker Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 World Cup goals after scoring a hat-trick in his country’s opening 3-0 victory over Algeria in their title defence campaign in North America.

Messi moved ahead of Klose when he calmly finished a chance in the 38th minute of Argentina’s second group match, sending the crowd at the home stadium of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas, into celebration.

The 38-year-old had earlier missed a penalty during the encounter but recovered to make history with his goal.

The forward is featuring at his sixth World Cup, having made his tournament debut in 2006. He has now scored 121 goals in 201 international appearances for Argentina.

His continued excellence has boosted Argentina’s hopes of becoming the first team since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the World Cup title.

Messi showed strong emotions after scoring his first goal against Algeria, and it was later revealed that his father was recovering from an undisclosed health issue.

Despite personal challenges and a difficult build-up to the tournament due to a hamstring concern, Messi’s presence remains a major source of motivation for his teammates.

Following Argentina’s opening victory, midfielder Alexis Mac Allister praised the impact of the Inter Miami forward.

“If anyone thought this group was better off without Leo, today it became clear that Leo is the most important of them all,” Mac Allister said.

Messi had not confirmed his participation in the tournament until the final stages of preparation, but his absence was never considered a realistic possibility for many supporters.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star played a key role in leading Argentina to World Cup success four years ago, and the opportunity to represent his country again on football’s biggest stage proved too significant to ignore.

Argentina can secure qualification for the next round with a victory over Austria and would guarantee top spot in Group J if Jordan fail to defeat Algeria later on Monday.

Following Messi and Klose on the all-time World Cup scoring chart is Brazilian legend Ronaldo with 15 goals, while Germany’s Gerd Muller and France forward Kylian Mbappe have 14 goals each.