The debate over Lionel Messi’s status in the annals of footballing history is all well and good, but he may soon be the World Cup’s greatest scorer.
Messi scores a hat trick in his 2026 World Cup opener to join Miroslav Klose on 16 goals as the most prolific scorer at the tournament, in turn becoming just the second player to score in five different World Cup tournaments.
MORE — Messi scores hat trick at 2026 World Cup (video)
Of course there are more than goals records at the World Cup. There’s the appearances record (spoiler alert, name No. 1 has been mentioned) as well as others.
Read on and learn a bit more about the world’s most famous football tournament (Does it need the “football” modifier?).
World Cup goals record, all-time
Bold denotes active player
- Miroslav Klose, 16 (24 games)
- Lionel Messi, 16 (27 games)
- Ronaldo, 15 (19 games)
- Gerd Muller, 14 (13 games)
- Kylian Mbappe, 14 (15 games)
- Just Fontaine, 13 (6 games)
- Pele, 12 (14 games)
- Sandor Kocsis, 11 (5 games)
- Jurgen Klinsmann, 11 (17 games)
World Cup appearances record, all-time
Bold denotes active player
- Lionel Messi, 27
- Lothar Matthaus, 25
- Miroslav Klose, 24
- Paolo Maldini, 23
- Cristiano Ronaldo, 22
- Diego Maradona, 21
- Uwe Seeler, 21
- Wladyslaw Zmuda, 21
- Cafu, 20
- Philipp Lahm, 20
- Grzegorz Lato, 20
- Hugo Lloris, 20
- Javier Mascherano, 20
- Manuel Neuer, 20
- Bastian Schweinsteiger, 20
Next active players: Luka Modric, 19; Fernando Muslera, 17; Ivan Perisic, 17; Thibaut Courtois, 16.
Who has appeared in the most World Cup tournaments?
Cristiano Ronaldo will draw level with Messi for hitting the pitch in the most World Cup tournaments when he takes the pitch for Portugal this summer, as both will be the first players to play in six World Cups.
Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa is the third player to make the national team roster for six World Cups, though he did not play in the 2006 and 2010 tournaments,
Nine other players have been on five World Cup rosters including active players Manuel Neuer (Germany), Luka Modric (Croatia), Fernando Muslera (Uruguay), and Yuto Nagatomo (Japan).
Who has scored in the most World Cup tournaments?
Messi has for the moment joined Cristiano Ronaldo atop the record books with goals in five separate World Cups.
The Portuguese could pass Messi with a goal this summer.
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