Messi Overtakes Klose as All-Time World Cup Top Scorer
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- Messi surpassed Miroslav Klose's all-time World Cup record with 18 goals in 28 games, scoring all five of Argentina's goals so far at the tournament including a brace against Austria.
- Mbappé matched Klose on 16 World Cup goals in 16 matches and became France's all-time top scorer, netting twice against Iraq on his 100th international appearance.
- Haaland became the sixth player to score multiple goals in each of his first two World Cup appearances, taking his Norway tally to four goals and a career 59 goals in 52 internationals.
- The tournament is only the second time in World Cup history that three players have scored four or more goals after two matches — the first time since 1954.
- Harry Kane equalled Gary Lineker's England World Cup scoring record with a brace against Ghana and is set to add to it on Tuesday.
- The expanded 48-team format has increased goalscoring potential by adding an extra round and more matches against lower-ranked opposition, with Just Fontaine's 1958 record of 13 goals in a single tournament standing as the next benchmark.
- USA striker Folarin Balogun called the leading trio "inevitable," saying he is "just trying to get to that level — to be inevitable as well."
Why it matters: Mbappé is now level with Klose on 16 goals while Haaland is scoring at a similar rate. The 48-team format gives each of them more matches to add to their totals before the knockout rounds, and only three players in history have ever hit double figures in a single World Cup.
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