‘Lionel Messi is welcome to it’ - World Cup history-maker Miroslav Klose happy to pass goal record on to Argentine GOAT

The 2026 tournament curtain-raiser saw co-hosts Mexico defeat South Africa, officially initiating the race for international football's ultimate individual milestone. Former Bayern Munich frontman Klose currently sits atop the all-time standings, having registered an astonishing 16 goals across 24 appearances on the global stage. However, with the tournament structure expanding to offer more fixtures, the legendary marksman acknowledges that his long-standing clinical dominance is nearing its inevitable conclusion.

Opening up about the inevitability of his milestone falling, the 48-year-old FC Nurnberg manager revealed his absolute admiration for Argentina's talismanic captain. He toldSuddeutsche 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 former striker went on to praise the individual brilliance of the Inter Miami forward while highlighting his close bond with the current Albiceleste boss, adding: "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."

Klose's historic tally has stood unchallenged since 2014, but the current generation of elite forwards is closing in fast. Messi is at the forefront of the pursuit, sitting just three goals behind the German talisman with 13 World Cup strikes to his name. Meanwhile, French superstar Mbappe poses an equally ominous threat to the record books, having already registered a breathtaking 12 tournament goals from a mere 14 appearances on the global stage.

Argentina will officially launch their title defence when they square off with Algeria on Wednesday. Scaloni’s star-studded squad must then navigate their remaining Group B encounters, meeting Austria on the following Monday before wrapping up the opening stage against Jordan six days later. These initial fixtures offer the perfect early window for Messi to chip away at Klose's historic record as the reigning world champions look to assert their dominance.