What other records could fall as Messi pulls clear at top?

Lionel Messi has appeared at six World Cups, scoring 18 goals [Getty Images]

Lionel Messi. The greatest goalscorer in World Cup history.

The Argentine now stands alone as the competition's top marksman, moving two clear of Germany's Miroslav Klose on 18 after his double against Austria on Monday.

The 38-year-old, who scored a hat-trick in Argentina's opening win over Algeria, has broken a host of other records in the process.

Messi became only the third player to score in six successive men's World Cup appearances after Just Fontaine in 1958 and Jairzinho in 1970.

And a remarkable 12 of his 18 World Cup goals have come since turning 35 - that alone is as many as Pele managed in 14 matches across four tournaments.

He has, however, taken the most penalties in World Cup history - not including shootouts - and, after pulling his effort against Austria wide, missed the most as well, failing to score three times.

Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland all came out of the blocks firing in their respective nations' opening fixtures and will look to respond in the coming days.

Lurking four behind his record with 14 is France captain Mbappe, who is now the all-time leading scorer for France with 58 after his double against Senegal, and could well have the goals record in his sights himself.

Kane is four further back - but surely it is too far for him this tournament?

BBC Sport takes a look at the other major records already broken or set to be at this tournament.

Kane set to break Lineker's England record

Harry Kane has scored 81 goals in 115 games for England [Getty Images]

After watching Messi, Haaland and Mbappe all hit the back of the net, Kane reminded the footballing world what he could do in England's 4-2 win over Croatia on Wednesday.

The Three Lions skipper netted twice in Dallas to move England top of Group L and draw level with Gary Lineker as their all-time leading scorer at World Cup finals on 10 goals.

With Ghana to come on Tuesday night, Kane might not be level with Lineker for long.

Wednesday's game also meant Kane became just the second England player - after Sir David Beckham in 1998, 2002 and 2006 - to score at three different World Cups.

The Croatia match also marked Kane's 115th England appearance, moving him level with Beckham among the country's most-capped players.

A first multiple Golden Boot winner?

Kylian Mbappe won the World Cup with France in 2018 [Getty Images]

Is Mbappe going to become the first player to win multiple World Cup Golden Boots or will it be England skipper Kane?

Mbappe struck eight times to win the Golden Boot in Qatar in 2022 but faces fierce competition to retain the accolade.

Kane, also with records on his mind, won the prize in 2018 with six goals.

Messi leads the way on five, while Germany's Denis Undav and Canada's Jonathan David have three, but Kane, Haaland and Mbappe are still to play for the second time.

This could be a race for the ages.

Most World Cups scored in

Cristiano Ronaldo has 143 goals in 229 caps for Portugal [Getty Images]

Ronaldo was bound to appear at some point.

It may have been a lacklustre performance from him in Portugal's shock 1-1 draw with DR Congo but a record is always around the corner.

In 2022, Ronaldo set the record for the most World Cups scored in at five - 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 - but Messi has already equalled that.

But a goal for Ronaldo at the 2026 edition will make it a record six for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Ronaldo becomes oldest outfield player

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored eight times at the World Cup [Getty Images]

But a record did fall for Ronaldo in the opening game.

Taking to the pitch in Houston, the Portuguese had joined Messi as the second man to play in six World Cup tournaments.

In doing so, he also became the oldest outfield player to start at the World Cup - aged 41 years and 132 days.

The record previously belonged to Canada's Atiba Hutchinson, at 39 years and 296 days when he started at the 2022 World Cup in a group match against Croatia.

Haaland to become Norway's leading World Cup scorer?

Erling Haaland made his World Cup debut in Norway's 4-1 win over Iraq [Getty Images]

Where records are falling, Haaland is always close by.

The Norway striker needed just 20 touches to score twice in the 4-1 win over Iraq and become the first player to net a double for his nation at the World Cup.

Haaland only needed one game to become Norway's joint all-time leading scorer at the World Cup - levelling with Kjetil Rekdal.

He can move clear of Rekdal when taking on Senegal on Tuesday morning.

Vozinha among oldest stars in World Cup history

Vozinha was left in tears at the end of Cape Verde's shock draw with Spain [Getty Images]

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha became one of the stories of the tournament despite playing in a 0-0 draw.

He made seven crucial saves to keep out European champions Spain in Cape Verde's World Cup debut - and also set some records himself.

At 40 years and 12 days, he became the oldest player to appear in a nation's debut World Cup match, surpassing the record set by Curacao's Eloy Room.

Vozinha also broke the World Cup record for being the oldest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet on his finals debut.

Deschamps moves in on most managerial wins

Didier Deschamps has won the World Cup as a player and manager of France [Getty Images]

France boss Didier Deschamps is one win away from equalling the record for most wins as a manager at the World Cup.

Former West Germany manager Helmut Schon is at the top of the all-time list with 16 victories, and a win for France over Iraq will move Deschamps level.

All being well for the Frenchman, he will set a new record of 17 in the final group game against Norway.

What a way to end your time as France manager that would be.

Most red cards at the World Cup

There was only one straight red card shown at the 2022 World Cup [Getty Images]

The record for the most red cards at a World Cup stands at 28, in 2006.

In the 2026 competition, six redshave been brandished already.

Three red cards were shown in Mexico's opening-game win over South Africa, before Bosnia-Herzegovina's Tarik Muharemovic and Qatar duo Assim Omer Madibo and Homam el Amin soon followed.

This tally is more than the past two World Cups, where four red cards were shown in Qatar and Russia.

There is still a way to go for this record, but there is an awful lot of football to come.

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