Not Messi Or Ronaldo! Football Legend Who Scored Most Goals In One FIFA World Cup

The 2026 edition will also create history off the field. For the first time ever, the tournament will be jointly hosted by three nations - United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Messi has scored 13 goals in 26 World Cup matches, while Ronaldo has registered 8 goals in 22 appearances.

Source : PTI

The 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Football icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo - both of whom have featured in five World Cups - are expected to play in what could be their final tournament appearances. Yet despite their legendary careers, neither has managed to break one of football’s most iconic records: the most goals scored in a single World Cup edition.

That record still belongs to French striker Just Fontaine, who scored an astonishing 13 goals during the 1958 World Cup - a feat that has remained untouched for nearly seven decades.

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The 2026 edition will also create history off the field. For the first time ever, the tournament will be jointly hosted by three nations - United States, Canada, and Mexico. Also, the competition will expand to 48 teams for the first time, with 105 matches set to be played across 16 venues.

Just Fontaine’s historic record

Just Fontaine remains the holder of the record for the most goals scored in a single FIFA World Cup tournament. The French forward netted 13 goals in the 1958 edition despite featuring in only that one World Cup during his career.

Remarkably, Messi has scored the same number of World Cup goals - 13 - but across five different tournaments, while Ronaldo has scored 8 goals in five appearances.

Overall World Cup top scorer

The record for the most goals in FIFA World Cup history belongs to German legend Miroslav Klose, who scored 16 goals across four World Cup editions.

Messi vs Ronaldo World Cup numbers

Cristiano Ronaldo holds the unique distinction of scoring in five separate FIFA World Cups. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi has enjoyed greater overall scoring success in the tournament.

Messi has scored 13 goals in 26 World Cup matches, while Ronaldo has registered 8 goals in 22 appearances.