Lionel Messi / Wikipedia

He is a legend. He is an icon. And he is already the highest scorer in the history of the FIFA World Cup. He is none other than Lionel Messi.

The Argentina captain netted twice against Austria to surpass Miroslav Klose's record of 16 strikes at the global tournament.

His brace has helped Argentina become the fourth team after the USA, Mexico and Germany to qualify for the knockout round. As someone rightly commented after the final whistle in the match against Austria, "Messi is a player who can mesmerize any defense on his day." He has proved it twice in the games he has played in this biggest-ever FIFA World Cup.

Meanwhile, Egypt had every reason to feel pleased with its second-half performance against New Zealand. Besides overcoming a 0-1 deficit, the Egyptians scored three times in the second half to record a splendid 3-1 win. Incidentally, it is the first-ever win for Egypt in the FIFA World Cup.

It was a big heartbreak for New Zealand as it had taken the lead early in the first half and sustained it until the second half. Incidentally, three of the four goals scored in the match came from headers, a rare phenomenon indeed. New Zealand took the lead through a header by Finn Surman.

Ziko and Salah followed for Egypt with headers in the second half before Trezeguet scored the third goal to complete a historic win. Earlier, one of the co-hosts, Canada, also recorded its first-ever FIFA World Cup win by defeating Qatar 6-0.

Lionel Messi has been making more and more FIFA World Cup history with his unmatched and unprecedented achievements. By becoming the tournament's all-time top scorer during Argentina's 2-0 win over Austria in Group J, he has embarked upon yet another feat, scoring all five goals Argentina has to its credit in its first two games. Many more are expected from the magical feet of Lionel Messi in the remainder of the tournament as it moves to the knockout round.

Messi brushed off missing an earlier penalty by beating Austria goalkeeper Alexander Schlager late in the first half with a first-time left-foot finish for his 17th World Cup goal, overhauling former Germany striker Miroslav Klose as the tournament's leading overall scorer. Interestingly, in the first game against Algeria, Messi's first goal was disallowed as he was adjudged offside.

The Argentina captain rounded off his record-breaking display by sealing victory for the holders with a second strike in stoppage time, following up Julian Alvarez's shot to take his total tally in the global event to 18.

Messi, who turns 39 on Wednesday, June 24, also leads the scoring charts at this World Cup with five goals following his stunning hat trick in the defending champions' opening game against Algeria.

Klose held the title of the World Cup's record scorer for 12 years, netting at every finals between 2002 and 2014. Speaking prior to the tournament, and in anticipation of Messi breaking his record,

Klose told FIFA: "Messi is simply Messi. I've always admired the way he solved problems and the way he carried himself as a person, even on the pitch.

"He always brought his team to life. In 2006 he was on the bench and [Juan Roman] Riquelme played, until Messi was given that trust. What he then made of football, and the way he did it, I take my hat off to that. Huge compliment!

"I've always been a Messi fan, and now that he's standing in front of me, I have to say: that's not too bad either!"

Messi has played in a joint-record six editions of the World Cup, scoring at five of those, with his first goal at the tournament coming against Serbia and Montenegro in 2006. He was unable, however, to select his favorite of the 18 strikes, so exhausted was he after his latest act of history-making.

"I don't know, to be honest, I can't remember right now," he told media. "I'm tired, I'm running low on energy, and I'm finding it hard to think, so anyway, I'm just going to enjoy this moment, and I'm looking forward to celebrating with my teammates."

With each game, he has been further cementing his legacy as one of football's all-time greats.

Messi opened the scoring with a brilliant goal, stroking the ball into the bottom corner after Thiago Almada's dummy allowed Facundo Medina's ball to reach him in the area. He then found the net deep into injury time to seal a thrilling victory.

Messi's history-making opener at Dallas Stadium had been delayed by his early penalty miss and decisive blocks by David Alaba for a spirited Austria side. However, his dynamic double not only took him to the top of this tournament's Golden Boot standings but also sent Lionel Scaloni's defending champions into the Round of 32 from Group J.

To cap off Argentina's day, the drama took place on the 40th anniversary of Diego Maradona's amazing goal against England. The closest Ralf Rangnick's men came to dent the Argentinian celebrations was a free kick by Marcel Sabitzer, on his 100th international appearance, while Nico Gonzalez came close to finding the net for Argentina.

However, the European team struggled to break down the defending champions, and Messi, as he has done in seven of the last nine Albiceleste World Cup games, made the difference once again.

Everything was bigger in Texas, thanks to Lionel Messi.

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