The goal against Egypt helped Lionel Messi level a scoring milestone that has existed for 96 years in the history of the Argentina national team.
Messi’s masterpiece helped Argentina equalize the score at 2-2 against Egypt On the early morning of July 8, Lionel Messi had a class finish into Egypt’s net to equalize 2-2 for Argentina in the match belonging to the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup.
On the night of July 7, Lionel Messi continued to write a new chapter in his glorious career when he scored a goal in Argentina’s 3-2 victory over Egypt in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. This strike not only helped the defending champions complete a spectacular comeback, but also brought the Argentina captain level with a legend of this country’s football.
That was Messi’s 8th goal at the 2026 World Cup, thereby equaling the goalscoring achievement in a single World Cup of Guillermo Stabile. The legendary striker once set this milestone at the 1930 World Cup, the first tournament in history, and that record has existed for the past 96 years.
Messi is also currently the only player to score in all matches of the 2026 World Cup. On the journey to bring Argentina to the quarterfinals, the 39-year-old superstar in turn pierced the nets of Algeria, Austria, Jordan, Cape Verde, and Egypt. Meanwhile, competitors for the Top Scorer title like Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, or Harry Kane all had at least one match drawing a blank.
The goal against Egypt also helped Messi raise his total number of strikes at World Cups to 21, continuing to solidify his position as the greatest goalscorer in the tournament’s history. The gap between him and the person behind him, Mbappe, is currently widened to 2 goals.
In the 2026 World Cup Top Scorer race, Messi also temporarily holds the upper hand with 8 goals. Mbappe and Haaland both have 7 strikes, while Harry Kane possesses 6 goals. All four forwards have featured in the quarterfinals along with their national teams and still have the opportunity to improve their achievements.
Being just one goal away from surpassing Stabile, Messi is facing the opportunity to solely hold yet another record in the Argentina shirt. With a stable goalscoring form since the start of the tournament, the number 10 remains the greatest hope of “La Albiceleste” on the journey to conquer the World Cup championship for the fourth time.
