‘He’s the best’: magical Messi becomes World Cup’s all-time leading scorer

An exhausted Lionel Messi savoured the “special” feeling of becoming the World Cup’s all-time record goalscorer after his double gave Argentina a 2-0 victory over Austria.

Messi broke Germany striker Miroslav Klose’s record, set in 2014, by scoring his 17th goal on this stage seven minutes before half-time, adding another with the final action of the match. He had earlier missed a penalty and admitted his matchwinning contributions were necessary to wash away the taste of that aberration.

“It feels special, but like I’ve always said it does,” he said. “Like I’ve said other times, I enjoy playing, having a good time on the pitch. I wasn’t necessarily having one on the ­penalty, but with luck we were able to work through that situation, take the advantage and leave with three points.”

Never one to overenthuse, Messi cut a restrained figure and opted not to bite when asked about his favourite of the 18 World Cup goals. “I can’t recall right now, I’m tired, low on energy, and finding it hard to think,” he said, laughing.

After consecutive wins in Group J, Argentina’s place in the last 32 is now guaranteed. “We knew it was going to be a game with a lot of intensity and we knew we wouldn’t be able to let our guard down,” Messi said. “But yes, I’m happy. It’s important to us also to get the six points to have a little bit of a calmer week.”

The Argentina head coach, Lionel Scaloni, admitted Messi’s continued heroics have left him bereft of descriptive power. “I have no words to talk about Leo, it makes us all a bit tired,” he said. “I’m so happy with his performance. He scored again. The team suffered and at times we created difficulties today. When Leo becomes active everyone activates.

“When the team was having a tough time without possession of the ball he worked, he managed to steal the ball, you could see his level of commitment and there is a reason for that. He has commitment, this is what he generates.”

Julián Alvarez, who was heavily involved in the late move from which Messi scored his second goal, was among others to pay tribute. “At his age, he continues to show his talent and all his magic,” the Atlético Madrid forward said. “There isn’t much to say. We all see it, he’s the best in the world.”

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The Austria head coach, Ralf Rangnick, also lauded Messi but felt Alexis Mac Allister had fouled Xaver Schlader in the buildup to Messi’s first goal. “We know Messi is on a level of his own and he showed today that he is the greatest,” he said.

“In my opinion there was a foul, but the VAR was not brave enough to tell the referee about the foul committed.”