Lionel Messi of Argentina greets spectators after the group J match between Argentina and Austria at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US on June 22, 2026. Photo: Xinhua

The topic of Lionel Messi becoming World Cup’s all-time leading scorer has gone viral on Chinese social media on Tuesday, after his brace lifted Argentina to a 2-0 win over Austria, securing a berth in the knockout stage.

During Argentina’s second group game on Monday, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner missed a penalty early on but redeemed himself in the first half by slotting home a left-footed shot. He found the net again in stoppage time, taking his World Cup tally to 18 goals to surpass German legend Miroslav Klose and become the tournament's all-time leading scorer.

Notably, the missed penalty also saw Messi set an unwanted record: excluding penalty shootouts, he has now missed three of his seven penalties at the World Cup, the most penalties missed by any player in the tournament's history, Xinhua News Agency reported. 
 
After the match, Messi said that he was upset about missing the penalty, ESPN reported.

"Today there was a moment where I was very angry about the penalty because I missed it," Messi said. "I kicked it very badly, and well, luckily we were able to turn that situation around, take the lead and get the three points, which is what's important."
 
Messi’s record-breaking performance for Argentina has sparked discussions on Chinese social media as one Weibo user said that “Hopefully Argentina can go even further, with Messi continuing to write history and the entire team staying fit. Vamosss!

The rest of Argentina's forward line still needs to improve their form, said another Weibo user from East China’s Jiangxi Province. 

Having bagged a hat-trick during Argentina’s opening group game against Algeria, Messi moved to the top of the scoring charts at this World Cup with five goals.

With two wins, Argentina has already booked its berth in the knockout stage and will face Jordan in the last group game on Saturday.

Meanwhile in Group I, Kylian Mbappe scored twice in France’s 3-0 win over Iraq to draw level with Klose in second place with 16 goals on the World Cup's all-time scoring list.