En égalant Klose, Messi redore le blason d’un record emblématique du foot

Before we upset Miroslav Klose fans, if they exist (still), Miroslav Klose, the German World Cup winner 2014, runner-up 2002, and third-placed finisher 2006, has earned his place in the legend of the world's biggest football competition. His 16 World Cup goals, a record, but still to be beaten, are his and no one will take them away. But Lionel Messi's triple that made him equal Messi's historic record puts things right: the top honor of best World Cup scorer now belongs to the top players of the game. The German, however remarkable a striker, is not invited to this table; Messi takes the crown. You see the difference?

Lionel Messi, after Argentina's win over Algeria, played down his new co-record. 'It's an honor to be alongside Klose and other greats, (Brazil's) Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe who scored two today, ... But I think it means nothing in the end; it's just a statistic and nothing more.'

Messi, also co-top provider of all time with Maradona, concluded his intervention by hitting precisely on the problem of this record held by Klose. 'Ronaldo (R9) was one of the greatest, but he wasn't first in this ranking.'

In putting aside feelings, Miroslav Klose's 16 goals had mainly crowned his regularity in front of the goal more than his ability to be decisive in critical moments of the tournament. 11 of them were scored in the group stage and against second-tier opponents (Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, etc.). Of the five others, three were also scored against Argentina, including the famous equalizer in the 2006 quarterfinals who had led to qualification through penalty shootout.

In contrast, unlike Ronaldo Nazario and Lionel Messi, he has never scored in the final, where the Brazilian (2002) and the Argentine (2022) each scored a double when it mattered most. Of the three, Ronaldo has the most balanced ratio between group stage (eight goals) and final stage (seven goals). Messi's ratio (10 goals in groups, six goals in the final round) is getting closer to Klose's.

Not bad, not bad, but it may well be that a Frenchman breaks through to 200 at the last minute on the left-hand file for everyone to bury. Kylian Mbappe has just scored his 13th and 14th goals against Senegal at 27. The new top scorer of the French team has scored 24% of his goals in his national team in the World Cup, often at the World Cup, advanced stages of the competition. With four goals scored in two finals played and a ratio of nine in the final round against five in the groups, the star of Real Madrid has laid the foundations for a record greater than all the others. It remains to be sealed.

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