Lionel Messi has overtaken Argentina football icon Gabriel Batistuta as the nation’s top ever scorer at a World Cup after he gave them the lead in Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final against Croatia.
Messi opened the scoring with a lethal left-footed finish from the penalty spot after Julian Alvarez was taken down by Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic inside the area. Messi stepped up to convert from the spot and net his 11 th World Cup goal.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar had levelled Batistuta’s World Cup tally of ten goals in Friday’s quarter-final progression against the Netherlands with a coolly-converted second-half penalty, before also scoring in the penalty shootout.
The 35-year-old has been enjoying a standout tournament for his nation in Qatar and has contributed to seven of their 11 goals in their opening six-and-a-half matches, netting five times and providing two assists.
Messi also found the net from the penalty spot in Argentina's opening game defeat against Saudi Arabia, before opening the scoring for Lionel Scaloni's side's two-goal victory over Mexico in their second group stage game.
The former Barcelona ace did not net against Poland in the two-goal victory to conclude the game - where he was also foiled from the penalty spot - but he did score against Australia in the Round of 16 and then again from the spot against the Netherlands.
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All that means that Messi is now the joint top goal scorer at this World Cup with five goals to his name. He has drawn level with his PSG club teammate Kylian Mbappe, who will star for France in their semi-final clash against Morocco on Wednesday.
The superstar led Argentina to the Copa America title last year and winning the World Cup would complete his set of medals and cement his status as the best player of all time. This year is likely to be his final edition of the tournament - as he will be aged 39 for the 2026 World Cup.
Messi entered this World Cup hoping to land six individual records but will be fully focused on lifting the trophy in Sunday's final.
