Miroslav Klose has seen this coming. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup now underway after Mexico's opening win over South Africa, the German legend who holds the all-time tournament scoring record with 16 goals says he fully expects Lionel Messi to surpass him before the tournament ends. The FC Nurnberg manager spoke openly about it, and there was no defensiveness in his words -- just genuine admiration for the man he believes will do it.
Can Messi break the World Cup all-time scoring record at 2026?
Right now, Messi sits three goals behind Klose's record, having scored 13 World Cup goals across five tournaments. He arrives in the United States as the reigning champion, leading Argentina into a Group B campaign that opens Wednesday against Algeria, followed by Austria and Jordan.
Klose told Suddeutsche Zeitung: "I expect my record to be broken in this tournament. With more teams, there are more matches and therefore more opportunities to score goals. And I expect Argentina and France to go far. That's perfectly fine, the record will be broken eventually anyway, Messi is welcome to do it. I'm a huge Messi fan, always have been."
The expanded 48-team format creates significantly more fixtures than previous editions. For a player three goals short, that arithmetic matters. Messi's path to the record, however, isn't without complications. He arrives carrying concerns over a muscle injury picked up in his final MLS appearance with Inter Miami. Whether he starts against Algeria at full fitness remains to be seen.
How many World Cup goals does Messi have going Into 2026?
Messi has scored 13 World Cup goals across five tournaments. His journey to that tally tells a story of slow accumulation that exploded in Qatar.
He scored once in 2006, blanked in 2010, managed four in 2014 (all in the group stage), one in 2018, and then seven in 2022 -- more than the previous three tournaments combined. Those 2022 goals included knockout-stage strikes for the first time in his career, the most important being his two goals in the Lusail final against France.
Behind him sits Kylian Mbappe on 12, four behind Klose. The PSG teammates-turned-rivals now find themselves chasing the same target from different distances. Mbappe has consistently delivered in group stages -- his best tally being three in 2022 -- and France will need to progress deep into the knockout rounds for him to catch Klose.
What did Klose say about Messi personally?
The admiration Klose expressed was not just about football. He told Suddeutsche Zeitung: "Messi is a genius. And I also have a lot of respect for the Argentinian coach Scaloni. I played with him at Lazio. He showed me around the city a bit back then. We're good friends."
That personal connection to Scaloni adds texture to his stance. This isn't a retiring champion reluctantly passing a torch. Klose is watching friends -- old teammates -- on the verge of making history, and he seems genuinely at peace with that.
Who else could challenge Klose's World Cup goals record?
Mbappe remains the other realistic challenger. At 27, with 12 goals from just 14 appearances, his rate per game is striking. He has scored in every World Cup he has played, and France's squad depth gives them a strong chance of reaching the later rounds where goals tend to cluster.
Beyond those two, no current player is within realistic reach. Cristiano Ronaldo finished his World Cup career at 15 goals -- one behind Klose. Gerd Muller sits at 14, Just Fontaine at 13. Messi has already matched Fontaine. If he finds the net four times before Argentina's tournament ends, the record Klose set in Brazil 12 years ago will finally belong to someone else.
The 48-year-old German isn't losing sleep over it. He said it himself: the record was always going to fall eventually. He's just glad it might happen while he's still watching.
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