Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi has made history by becoming the top goalscorer in the FIFA World Cup. He scored two goals against Austria on Monday night (Indian time), with his first goal setting the new world record.
Even the calm and cool Lionel Messi can get angry! The Argentinian captain was furious with himself after missing a penalty during the FIFA World Cup 2026 match against Austria on Monday night, Indian time. He admitted it himself after the game.
Although he left the field with a smile, Messi said, “There was a moment today when I was very angry. I missed the penalty. I took a very bad shot. Luckily, we were able to recover from that situation. We went ahead and got three very important points.”
Messi misses out on a hat-trick
After scoring a hat-trick in Argentina’s first World Cup match against Algeria, Messi came very close to repeating the feat against Austria. But in the 9th minute of the match, he failed to score from the penalty spot. His low shot with his left foot went wide of the goalkeeper’s left side.
He finally scored his first goal in the 38th minute and added a second in stoppage time. This took his total World Cup goals to 18, pushing him past former Germany striker Miroslav Klose to become the highest goalscorer in World Cup history. If he had scored that penalty, he would have set another new record with back-to-back hat-tricks, but he missed that chance due to his own mistake.
A bad habit of missing penalties
Nobody questions Messi’s skills, but he isn’t exactly famous for his penalty kicks. In fact, he has a bit of a habit of missing them. He failed to score from the spot in the 2022 World Cup against Poland. Before that, Messi also missed a penalty in the 2018 World Cup. This means he has now failed to score a penalty in three consecutive World Cups.